Born into one of Western Europe's most deprived areas, Catherine Cookson lived an eventful and fulfilling life. Her life story, as told by Kathleen Jones, is as dramatic as any of her best-selling novels.
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"Write about what you know". Catherine Cookson was a phenomenon in her own lifetime. Her illegitimate origins in the Newcastle slums of the early 1900s gave no indication that she would, at the time of her death in 1998, be a bestselling novelist, known to millions as "Our Kate". Cookson worked her way out of her poverty-ridden childhood, and exorcised its worst horrors through her increasingly successful writing. Her astonishingly prodigious output--97 novels in all--was matched by her philanthropic generosity--as her wealth grew, she ploughed resources back into the impoverished community from which she came. Her roots were inextricably linked with the north-east of England. Kathleen Jones has drawn on previously unpublished excerpts from Cookson's own autobiography, plus lengthy tape recordings and interviews with close friends to reveal the deeply troubled woman behind the remarkable success story. Cookson's breakdown and series of miscarriages have been well-documented, but Jones sheds new light on the author's disturbed relationship with her mother, and the intense friendship with Nan Smith which threatened her marriage. Above all, Jones returns to the works, so much more than mass-market fiction, which overcame the scoffing of literary prejudice to earn Cookson the title of " the greatest historical novelist of all time."
Review
'A dramatic and unsettling story, and Jones tells it with quiet tact' -- Sunday Telegraph
'A tender, perceptive, cleareyed biography' -- Sunday Express
'Kathleen Jones's biography displays all the Cookson virtues' -- Daily Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
'A tender, perceptive, cleareyed biography' -- Sunday Express
'Kathleen Jones's biography displays all the Cookson virtues' -- Daily Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book is very well written, very interesting and certainly three-quarters of the book is well paced. I've read a few other Catherine Cookson biographies and been really disappointed, not liked the tone of the writing etc. but this one is certainly the best tribute to one of our greatest novelists. There are quite a few photos which add to the interest and quotes from Catherine's novels/interviews etc woven into the writing all with references where they have originated from. These are quite nicely done but not overdone and you don't have to keep looking up where the quote is from to enjoy the book. The last quarter of the book is not really as gripping as the first and it does lose momentum. Perhaps it would be better to have left out much of the last few years of her life because this seems very repetitive just talking about when she is ill and having to take to her bed (which is quite often)and does not really hold the reader when it goes on for pages and pages.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Quickly delivered in first class condition. This biography tells everything: how an illegitimate daughter thought her mother was her sister and was dragged through all that was awful and mucky in Jarrow in times when the wicked passed muster with those who did not have to participate: how she progressed through working in Workhouses (down South where things were better) to a Lesbian affair and then a delightful and rewarding marriage: not to mention the breakdowns and that she eventually became (nearly) England's richest woman through her writing which is addictive. This biography is too - it is a "must have" for me, and perhaps you as well. It is far better than the autobiographies which, by nature, are things which "enhance" the reputuation of the writer about "self".
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By zx50
Format:Hardcover
Anyone wanting to know all about Catherine Cookson ... this is the book to get. I had this book (bought from a charity shop) back in 2007, but decided to buy it again because I remembered how good her life story was. It's not a book that will bore you ... unless you're not interested in Catherine's life. It goes over everything (as far as I know) that happened in her life. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to know about her.
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