Showing results by author "Catherine Cookson" in All Categories

It was a wartime white wedding but it was not a love match. Annie Cooper married George McCabe for one reason only: she was expecting his child. But Annie was a girl of spirit and determined to make the marriage work. Annie applied herself to that task as she matured into a woman of character and resource. The family prospered even as it grew. She bore George four children, but it was the first who always held her heart in the hollow of his hand. From early childhood, Rance was a problem.

Prudence Dudley was a woman who appeared to have everything: an undeniably attractive woman who had already achieved considerable success as a novelist. Yet she remained at odds with life after her sad rejected childhood and a more recent deeply wounding emotional crisis. Nearing a breakdown, Prudence seeks support from her staunch and supportive Auntie Maggie, and flees to her rented cottage in the Lake District. They encounter the owner of the cottage, aggressive and overbearing David Bernard Michael McVeigh. In time, Pru comes to learn that his iron façade is not the whole man.

Beatrice, de oudste dochter van de welgestelde Simon Steel, neemt zonder enige moeite het huishouden in huize Dennenlust over wanneer haar moeder overlijdt. Haar drie zussen zien haar strenge beleid met lede ogen aan en merken hoe het landgoed een obsessie voor Beatrice wordt. Bij het overlijden van de vader des huizes, is ze tot in de puntjes voorbereid om het huis en de grond eromheen over te nemen.

Nancy Ann heeft spijt. Als klein meisje was ze altijd al avontuurlijk aangelegd en dat terwijl ze zeer streng werd opgevoed door haar vader, de dominee van het dorp. Nadat ze met Dennis trouwde, merkte Nancy Ann al gauw de nare trekjes van haar man die meer en meer zichtbaar werden. Heeft ze de juiste keuze gemaakt door met Dennis te trouwen, of had ze toch voor de zorgzame lord Graham Mercer moeten gaan?

Prudence Dudley besluit het roer volledig om te gooien door haar drukke bestaan achter zich te laten en tijd door te brengen in het rustieke Lake District. Verrassend genoeg brengt juist hun overeenkomstige, afschuwelijke voorgeschiedenis hen nader bij elkaar. Hoe komt Prudence los van de verschrikkelijke herinneringen uit haar jeugd? Zullen zij het verleden weten in te halen?

Rosie verlaat het bruisende Londen en keert terug naar haar ouders, in het saaie dorp Fellburn. De moeder van Rosie Massey, Hannah, is ongelooflijk blij dat haar favoriete dochter weer thuis komt wonen. Toch lukt het haar niet om Rosie te doorgronden, die zich schikt in het ouderlijk nest met haar vele broers en waar moeders wil nog altijd wet is.

His full name is Joseph Rooney Smith and he works for the corporation of one of the Tyneside towns as an ‘M.P.’. This has nothing to do with the Houses of Parliament, but is short for ‘Muck Pusher’: Rooney is a dustman. A shy man, Rooney has one aim in life – a comfortable home, but with a difference – he did not want a wife. As a result, Rooney spends his time dodging women; his canniness becomes the envy of his mates and the despair of predatory widows and single women.

To outsiders, Dr Paul Higgins' life appeared to be happy and contented. Everyone had a good word for him and his home life appeared to be ideal. At 36, Bett Higgins could still pass for a much younger woman, not just in looks but in the way she loved the company of people half her age. A grand couple, some might say. But once the surgery was closed and the curtains drawn, the façade that Paul and Bett Higgins presented to the world concealed a welter of hate and ill-conceived bitterness that had grown worse with the passing years.

In the brooding north country hills, a man and a woman fought for the passion they felt for each other that the world branded a disgrace. . .Agnes Thorman - the proud but forlorn mistress of a once-grand estate, whose society forbade her the man who was her equal in all but name. . .Robert Bradley - a gifted craftsman, as visionary and challenging as the dawning new age. He had yet to seize his dream, which could destroy the woman he loved. . .And Milicent Thorman - the strange, wise girl-child fated to play a part in the lovers' unfolding destiny. . .