You may feel Cookson is just romantic fiction but I know many a man who has enjoyed her tales for she is all plot with little description which just keeps you turning the pages.  This is a wonderfully eventful tale from the 1860s to World War II, a tale of hope, love, hatred, betrayal, murder and more.  A great read.

A "Piece of Passion" from the publisher...

‘Spanning Katie’s life from 1860 to the height of WW11, this is a spellbinding, timeless drama. If you haven’t experienced a Catherine Cookson novel, read Katie Mulholland and you’ll see why she is still one of Britain’s most cherished novelists.' Sarah Turner, Editorial Director at Transworld

Synopsis

The daughter of a mining family, Katie Mulholland is forced to find work as a scullery maid for the Rosiers. But the beautiful young girl soon captures the eye of her employer's evil son, a seducer who uses force when charm fails and leaves her pregnant.

Quick to dismiss Katie, the family force her into a loveless marriage with the cruel manager of the Rosier mines. But Katie's fate changes course when one man offers her the opportunity to make her own fortune, and to discover real love . . .

Reviews

‘Humour, toughness, resolution and generosity are Cookson virtues . . . In the specialised world of women’s popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory’ -  The Times

About the Author

Catherine Cookson was born in Tyne Dock, the illegitimate daughter of a poverty-stricken woman, Kate, whom she believed to be her older sister. She began work in service but eventually moved south to Hastings, where she met and married Tom Cookson, a local grammar-school master. Although she was originally acclaimed as a regional writer - her novel The Round Tower won the Winifred Holtby Award for the best regional novel of 1968 - her readership quickly spread throughout the world, and her many best-selling novels established her as one of the most popular of contemporary women novelists. After receiving an OBE in 1985, Catherine Cookson was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993. She was appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, in 1997. For many years she lived near Newcastle upon Tyne. She died shortly before her ninety-second birthday, in June 1998. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation