The Mallen Streak - Catherine Cookson > Reviews (1)

I have just finished reading The Mallen Streak and found it to be very interesting and a great book. The story is the first in a trilogy, about the family Mallen and in this book the main character is Thomas Mallen, who is described as a great womaniser who fathered many illigitimate children in his youth, some of the males being born with the stamp of the Mallen family with the "Mallen Streak" which is a streak of white hair starting at the crown and finishing at the left temple. The book covers the period between the 1850's and the 1870's in and around the great manor house of High Banks Hall, Allendale in the North East of England. The main theme of the book is the difference between the upper and lower classes, the loves of the main characters and the struggles they have with passion and decency in the strict Victorian era. The author describes wonderfully these people and brings them really to life with all of their weaknesses. Miss Brigmore, who I would say is the heroin of the story, plays an important part in this book and as most of Catherine Cookson characters, is not the perfect heroin. Thomas Mallen is the man you want to hate, but cannot help admiring. An unforgetable book which is both funny and heartbreaking at times.