Catherine Cookson is without doubt one of the best known names in modern English fiction. She wrote over 90 books for both adults and children. Whether you love or hate her writing style, it is a testament to her powers as a story teller that many of her books have been nominated for awards over the years and turned into television drama series and DVD's.

At 18, Catherine decided she needed a change and started work in the laundry at South Shields Workhouse, which is in the grounds of what is now the General Hospital (Harton Lane, South Shields). The work was hard and the hours long and arduous but Catherine found she liked the work and it suited her. Catherine left the North East for Hastings in 1929 where once again, she worked in a laundry. She struggled financially at first and took in paying guests to make ends meet. One of her tenants was Tom Cookson, a school master at Hastings Grammar School. The couple married and continued living in Catherine's house and rented out rooms to pensioners.
For a while she felt she could shrug off the stigma of illegitimacy and build a new life for herself and her husband, in spite of war and shortage of money.
Their problems were exacerbated by Catherine's ill health and the influence of her alcoholic mother, who moved to Hastings for a while to be close to her daughter. Catherine Cookson suffered four miscarriages and had a nervous breakdown before resigning herself to being childless.
Remarkably, the breakdown proved to be a turning point, when her doctor suggested she try writing as a way of relaxing and releasing her 'demons'. She followed his advice, joined a local writers group and took up writing. Her first novel "Kate Hannigan" was completed in 1948 when she was 42. she went on to write over 90 novels, many set in the North East of England amid the mines, steel yards and rural communities of the area. Her novels are set in various periods from the nineteenth century onwards.

Many people are scathing about Catherine Cookson's novels, writing them off as poorly planned and repetitive. I have read in other reviews and opinion panels that they are all 'rich man meets poor girl' or 'poor girl makes good'. This is not the case, Catherine Cookson wrote with an insight into human nature and her books covered many different topics and scenarios. Her characters are very well drawn and believable, whilst her descriptive writing is second to none.
The settings of her novels are based on real places and Catherine Cookson admitted to interviewers that she drew upon her own experiences and the stories told by people she knew when researching material for her novels.
If you have never read a Catherine Cookson novel, you are missing out on a treat. No foul language, gratuitous violence or graphic sex scenes fill the pages. The novels cover unpleasant happenings such as rape, child abuse, drunken exploits, gambling, prostitution, however it is to the author's credit that she covers these scenes in such a way that you are in no doubt about what has happened, but it is told without sensationalism or shock tactics.