My Beloved Son

Description

A classic story of a bitter struggle against hardship by the 100-million copy bestselling Catherine Cookson - the queen of saga - reissued in a fresh, gorgeous new package for today's readers. When Ellen Jebeau's husband dies in 1926, he leaves behind a legacy of debt and empty dreams. However, Ellen is determined that her son Joseph should have everything in life that she never did, and will stop at nothing to give it to him. Ellen and Joseph soon find themselves in a convenient arrangement with Ellen's brother-in-law, Sir Arthur, living on the family estate, an arrangement which quickly comes to work in conniving Ellen's favour... But over the course of the next twenty years, as destinies intertwine, can Joseph Jebeau escape the clutches of his mother's ruthless ambition, and emerge from the shadows of his heritage as the man he truly wants to be? Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

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 bestselling 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.

Queen of raw family romances * Telegraph * Humour, toughness, resolution and generosity are Cookson virtues . . . In the specialised world of women's popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory * Helen Dunmore, The Times * Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals * Mail on Sunday *