Maisie doesn't understand why her mother can't love her, but she knows that her life is hard and deeply unhappy. When her stepfather George, the only person she trusts, leaves, Maisie has no protector until she begins to escape.
She could never be quite sure when she first met up with Hamilton; most likely it was when she started talking to herself. But she didn't call him that then; that came much later when she was fourteen and Doctor Kane had to pay her a professional visit. "Let's use our horse sense," he said, and at that precise moment what did Maisie see but a great horse galloping right over him and all the time looking at her, it's eyes full of knowledge and its lips drawn back as if in laughter. When Maisie saw the name Hamilton on the horse box, she adopted it for her new and secret companion. But if she could not talk to anyone about Hamilton, she could at least write about him.
And write she did, with results that would eventually broaden her horizons far beyond the confines of her native Tyneside. But Hamilton continued to live on in her mind and became the one to save her.
It seemed the clouds that had darkened so much of Maisie's early life had finally cleared away. Freed at last from a disastrous marriage, she had also become a bestselling author with her very first book - all about Hamilton, the remarkable horse her imagination conjured for solace through the long years of an unhappy marriage. Hamilton proved to be a real guide, philosopher and friend over many years. Now she was to be married again, and Hamilton marked the occasion by taking a wife himself - a mare called Begonia. Living in London with her new husband, Nardy, her life seemed perfect. But Maisie was destined never to have long-lasting happiness as the bitter hatred of someone in her past would lead to further heartache...
Dame Catherine Cookson, became the United Kingdom's most widely read novelist, with sales topping 100 million. Her books were inspired by her deprived youth in South Tyneside, North East England, the setting for her novels.
Catherine Cookson's well-loved novels Hamilton and Goodbye Hamilton tell the story of Maisie, who invented an imaginary horse to keep her company through the long years of an unhappy marriage, and before she became a bestselling author. In this engaging sequel, Hamilton has vanished from Maisie's life and in the days after the death of her second husband she takes comfort from the company of a cheerful, bright-eyed little cockney boy named Harold.
Dame Catherine Cookson, became the United Kingdom's most widely read novelist, with sales topping 100 million. Her books were inspired by her deprived youth in South Tyneside, North East England, the setting for her novels.
Only after returning from his well-attended funeral did Fiona Bailey realise just how much she would miss Davey Love. Despite her initial doubts and prejudices about this rough-hewn Irishman, towards the end of his life she had discovered qualities about him she had previously overlooked. Above all, it was his inherent kindness that she had failed to discern when she and her husband had first met Davey and his wayward son Sammy.
The Baileys, Bill and Fiona, lived in the Tyneside town of Fellburn where Bill was a successful building contractor. Years before he had met and married Fiona, a young widow with her own loving family, to which they had shortly added by adopting the orphaned Mamie. Then, when one of Fiona's children, Willie, acquired a new friend, Sammy, it was he and his father Davey who, by one means or another, helped change the lives and fortunes of the Bailey family.
Now, with Davey gone, there would be new challenges to face. It had been agreed that Sammy would live with them - but would this formidable lad with his colourful language fit in as a fully-fledged member of the Bailey family? As for Fiona, it was she who bore the brunt of the arguments and disagreements that were an inevitable part of life in the Bailey household. Whatever life had in store, however, she knew she could always rely on Bill, that rock of a man with a rough tongue and edges but with a heart of gold.
The Victorian Sabbath was not without problems for some of those committed to its strict observance. Nancy Ann Hazel, the young and high-spirited daughter of a country parson, suffered from her father's lengthy Sunday sermons. The autumn sunshine beckoned her into the fields and along the bank of the river that wound its way through this pleasant corner of County Durham. This area was dominated by the neighbouring estates of two very different landowners: Graham Mercer, the reclusive lord of the manor, and Dennison Harpcore of Rossburn House, where life was lived on the grand scale and reputed to be more than a little dissolute.
Two older brothers had taught Nancy Ann how to look after herself well enough, and she could hold her own with the roughest of the village children. But soon she had to muster her courage and fortitude to the full when the far greater challenges of a controversial marriage thrust her into womanhood and into a whole new world of conflict and tragedy which had to be faced and overcome.
Catherine Cookson's well-loved novels Hamilton and Goodbye Hamilton tell the story of Maisie, who invented an imaginary horse to keep her company through the long years of an unhappy marriage, and before she became a bestselling author. In this engaging sequel, Hamilton has vanished from Maisie's life and two human companions take his place.
In this, the third novel of a trilogy, the atmosphere in the Bailey household was alive with anticipation. It was not only because Christmas was approaching, or even that Bill Bailey was tackling the biggest project of his career. No, all the excitement was because in two weeks' time, Fiona Bailey would give birth to a baby, the first arrival since Bill had married Fiona as a young widow, already mother of Mark, Katie and Willie, and with the adopted Mamie now part of the family circle.
But however much they looked forward to the event, there was the niggling concern of emotional adjustments to be made and how this new arrival would stretch the established relationships that had been so carefully nurtured. Suppose something went wrong? The Baileys were to learn about such considerations in the time ahead, and their experiences make this novel a most fascinating study of human relationships.
Bill Bailey, the rugged Liverpudlian, was now a fully-fledged Tyneside building contractor, as staunchly loyal to his squad of workmen as they were to him. He had also met and married Fiona, a young widow with her own loveable family, to which she and Bill shortly added with the adoption of the orphaned Mamie.
Life was good, but the economic climate was growing distinctly cloudy, and it was vital that Bill land the contract of a major development scheme. Competition was fierce, and when his men came under attack, Bill was sure that someone was out to spoil their chances for the job.
Meanwhile, there were ructions on the domestic front. One of their children, Willie, acquired a new friend, Sammy Love, and although Fiona had grave doubts about this formidable lad and his colourful language, it was Sammy - and his father - who would make a vital contribution to the lives and fortunes of Bill Bailey's lot.
This is a novel that conveys much warmth with the well-drawn characters of Bill Bailey and the captivating Sammy Love.
When young Jinnie Howlett's widowed father, a tinker man, died a pauper, she was already a reluctant inmate of a northern workhouse. But she thought herself fortunate - the alternative might have meant she ended up on the streets.
When close to her fifteenth birthday and after years of toil and drudgery, she was at last offered a position as a maid-of-all-work. Jinnie's employers were the Shalemans and her place of work Tollet's Ridge Farm, a bleakly isolated and run-down sheep farm way out beyond Allendale and towards the Cumbrian border. Before long, she discovered she had exchanged one kind of drudgery for another, this time for the Shaleman family.
Rose, invalid wife of Pug and mother to Bruce and Hal, demanded every hour of the day and night of her. Fortunately Bruce soon recognized that there was more to this seemingly vulnerable girl and it was he who would defend her against the taunts and harassment of the brutish Pug and Hal.
She became acquainted with Richard Baxton-Powell, who owed his life to Bruce, but when the persistent attention Richard paid her became too obtrusive, she was to understand that her growing confidence and maturity owed more to her life with the Shalemans than to any outside influence. It was then that Jinnie Howlett was suddenly thrust into womanhood, and the path to her own destiny became clear.
From the moment Bill Bailey arrived to take up residence at Fiona Nelson's home in the Tyneside town of Fellburn, he made his presence felt in no uncertain terms. As a young widow left badly off, and with three children to bring up, Fiona had come to know all the problems of trying to make ends meet. So despite the inevitably disapproving comments of her own mother, reckoned locally to be an interfering woman, she advertised for a lodger to help pay for some of the bills. The result was Bill, somewhat rough around the edges perhaps, but nobody's fool and doing very nicely with his own business as a builder.
Bill often described himself as a middle-of-the-road man, valuing his freedom where personal matters were concerned, but it was not long before Fiona found she was wondering just what her world had been before he came into it. He might be outwardly an ordinary enough bloke, but he appeared to possess some pretty extraordinary qualities, which proved to have a great and lasting effect on the future lives of Fiona and her young family.
Catherine Cookson's novel is a richly entertaining tale of human relationships which are warm-hearted, full of humour and powerfully dramatic.
Known for the wit of her writing, Catherine Cookson was the UK’s most widely read novelist during her lifetime. When her Estate discovered this never-before-published memoir in the attic of her home, it was an astonishing find. Before I Go is the definitive story of her life, in the author’s own candid words.
While Cookson had authored previous autobiographies, none have truly touched upon the tragedy and personal anguish she experienced until now. For the first time, she reveals the worst years of her life—her constant battles with illness and a series of devastating miscarriages, the damaging jealousy of her friend and her struggle to be taken seriously as a writer. But what shines through most is her strength in the face of adversity, her deep love for her husband, Tom, the solace she found in her art and her unmistakable character. Before I Go is an inspiring story of resilience and a must for any Cookson fan.
Known for the wit of her writing, in her lifetime Catherine Cookson became the UK’s most widely read novelist.
When the Cookson Estate discovered the unpublished manuscript of Saint Christopher and the Gravedigger in the attic of her home, they unearthed a gem for Cookson’s many fans. Gravedigger John Gascoigne lives in Downfell Hurst with his wife, Florrie, their three children and his mother, Gran. John is a deep thinker but extremely taciturn—a man of few words and many grunts. Which is why everyone is alarmed when he’s hit on the head by a cricket ball, and it suddenly seems as if the words won’t stop.
What’s more, he says he is talking to Saint Christopher—only no one else can see the saint, and they’re beginning to worry John’s not quite right in the head… Mad or not, John has some secrets he’s been keeping. But if he can’t stop talking, they won’t stay secret for long.
