Catherine Cookson

When Fred Carpenter suggests to his wife, Sally, that they should take a boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads, she is filled with trepidation. Nevertheless she summons her courage and they and their bull-terrier Bill set off, with Fred at the helm of Dogfish Three. Sally's misgivings are soon justified, as a series of disasters - human, nautical and canine - threaten to ruin their holiday. Then everything changes as they make friends with the boating...

Mary Hetherington was a mother who dominated her family. She was kind, efficient and generous--providing they did what she wanted. But when David brought home Sarah from the 'wrong end' of the Fifteen Streets, a girl who brought life and laughter into her dustless house, she soon took against her. Then when she discovered that Sarah was loved not just by David but by all her menfolk, Mary Hetherington realised that this 'interloper', if allowed to...

Maggie Gallacher had all but read the print off the elegant, gold-trimmed card. An invitation from the Duke of Moorshire to an evening at Lea Hall? She could still scarcely believe her eyes, even if it was a long-overdue honour - after all her husband Rod had done for the town.

Vanessa Ratcliffe is just 16, daughter of one of the town's richest men. In spite of her social standing and convent education, her provocative manner draws eyes in her direction. Meanwhile, Angus Cotton is a rough diamond with ambitious plans for his future - plans which might involve Vanessa.

Beatrice Steel, always over-possessive about her family home, Pine Hurst, has become insufferably dominating since the death of her mother, ruling her father, her sisters and the servants with an iron hand. Of course, she constantly has to remind herself, it is her father who actually owns the house, but it is the thought that he might remarry, thus making another woman mistress of Pine Hurst, that fills her with dread. Then, unexpectedly, her father...

Born into grinding poverty, young Freddie Musgrave relies on his wits to survive and help feed his family. He earns a few shillings by navigating his little boat across the swift-flowing waters of the Tyne, running messages and smuggling goods between the busy seaports on either side of the river and evading the customs agents. Luck is on his side - until the night he witnesses something truly horrific. In a supremely brave act he saves a life - and...

Kate Hannigan, Catherine Cookson's first published novel, has been in print since it first apeared in 1950. Now, 50 years later, comes its sequel Kate Hannigan's Girl. As Kate did, Annie must find the strength and maturity to overcome troubles.

Life on the Fifteen Streets was a continual struggle for survival. John O'Brien grew up in abject poverty, confined to the hardships of the Fifteen Streets. Labouring on the city's docks and trying to keep his loved ones safe from the drunken wrath of his father and brother, this is the only way of life he knows. Then John O'Brien meets his sister's teacher. Mary Llewellyn is beautiful and elegant, wealthy and privileged. She wants to help the less...

She came from the hills in the early dawn, appearing in Ned Ridley's stable yard like some wraith of the morning mist to seek the startled young horse dealer's help. Her name was Hannah Boyle and she was eight years old.

Even as a child Barbara was beautiful, but as her beauty grew so did the affliction which shadowed it. She was becoming deaf. Yet living in an almost silent world protected her from what could be a worse affliction - to know the truth of her origins.