Set in 1910, this tells the story of one family's fight for physical and moral survival in the poverty and squalor of the dockland slums of Tyneside. At the centre is the apparently impossible love affair between rugged docker John O'Brien and Mary Llewellyn, a schoolteacher. With elements of tragedy, humour, intrigue and love, this simple tale affords plenty of scope for imaginative and evocative production.Large flexible cast

Known for the wit of her writing, Catherine Cookson was the UK's most widely read novelist during her lifetime. When her Estate discovered this never-before-published memoir in the attic of her home, it was an astonishing find. Before I Go is the definitive story of her life, in the author's own candid words. While Cookson had authored previous autobiographies, none have truly touched upon the tragedy and personal anguish she experienced until now. For the first time, she reveals the worst years of her life-her constant battles with illness and a series of devastating miscarriages, the damaging jealousy of her friend and her struggle to be taken seriously as a writer. But what shines through most is her strength in the face of adversity, her deep love for her husband, Tom, the solace she found in her art and her unmistakable character. Before I Go is an inspiring story of resilience and a must for any Cookson fan.

County Durham, 1830s When fifteen-year-old Cissie Brodie loses her parents to cholera, she is forced out of the family cottage and left to raise her nine brothers and sisters by herself. Although desperately poor, strong-willed Cissie determines to build a new home for them all, their own little shelter to keep them from the workhouse. They have friends, but charity cannot always spare them the harsh reality of their struggle and when Cissie attracts the unwanted attentions of a local landowner, her world seems close to collapse. Can love, when it arrives, teach her not to fear the world beyond the dwelling place? Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

Known for the wit of her writing, in her lifetime Catherine Cookson became the UK's most widely read novelist. When the Cookson Estate discovered the unpublished manuscript of Saint Christopher and the Gravedigger in the attic of her home, they unearthed a gem for Cookson's many fans. Gravedigger John Gascoigne lives in Downfell Hurst with his wife, Florrie, their three children and his mother, Gran. John is a deep thinker but extremely taciturn-a man of few words and many grunts. Which is why everyone is alarmed when he's hit on the head by a cricket ball, and it suddenly seems as if the words won't stop. What's more, he says he is talking to Saint Christopher-only no one else can see the saint, and they're beginning to worry John's not quite right in the head... Mad or not, John has some secrets he's been keeping. But if he can't stop talking, they won't stay secret for long.

Annabella Lagrange had the kind of childhood that most can only dream about. The only child of an aristocratic couple, raised on their magnificent estate in the English countryside, she was loved by her parents and coddled by servants who acquiesced to her every whim. She was allowed to do anything she wanted, except, of course, to stray too far from her wing of the house. But her seclusion didn't concern her too much, because when she grew up, she planned to marry her handsome cousin Stephen and live happily ever after.

However, on the morning of her tenth birthday, Annabella ventured farther than she'd ever gone before. Overcome with curiosity, she opened a forbidden door that led into her father's private quarters, and what she found there showed her with shocking clarity that her father was not the man she thought he was. And though she couldn't know it at the time, the events of that day set in motion the uncovering of a secret that had been kept for many years.

So begins the remarkable story of Annabella Lagrange, a sensitive, beautiful young woman who was raised as a lady. But when she turns eighteen, she learns the surprising circumstances of her birth, and her entire world quietly crashes around her. Suddenly she's forced from the genteel surroundings of her youth into the rough, lower-class society of Victorian England, where only her quick wit and determination can save her from starvation.

Catherine Cookson was one of the world's most beloved writers, and in "The Glass Virgin" her powers are at their height. Rarely has a heroine been portrayed more sensitively or a situation more compellingly. Filled with passion and drama, "The Glass Virgin" is a rare treat for lovers of romantic fiction.

Born into poverty, Katie Mulholland is forced to find work as a maid in the house of a wealthy family. But the beautiful young girl captures the eye of her employer's evil son, who rapes her and leaves her pregnant. Out for themselves, the family forces her to marry the cruel manager of their mines. But Katie's fate changes course when one man offers her the opportunity to make her own fortune, and to discover real love . . . Spanning Katie's life from 1860 to the height of the Second World War, this is a timeless tale of one woman's fight for the happy ending she deserves. Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

Yorkshire, 1880s At nineteen years old, Bridget Dean Mordaunt inherits her father's candle and blacking factories. Determined to restore the businesses to their former glory, by the time she turns twenty-three she is running them as confidently as any man. But despite her success, trouble is looming. When the devious Lionel Filmore enters Bridget's family life, hoping to marry into her hard-earned wealth, she has to use all of her strength and ingenuity to keep her family together. Then, when young Lily Whitmore comes to her after her husband - an overseer in one of Bridget's factories - has wrongly been tried for his brother's murder, Bridget has no choice but to help. If Lily's husband didn't kill his brother, who did? The decisions Bridget makes will shape the lives of generations to come. Can her family overcome the darkness of the past to find new happiness? Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

Cumbria, 1870s. Just before her fifteenth birthday Jinnie Howlett is offered a position as maid-of-all-work at a farm near the Cumbrian border. She hopes this will be a welcome relief from the workhouse she knows too well. But when she meets her brutish employers Jinnie realises she has only exchanged one life of drudgery for another. She is grateful when one of the sons befriends her, but it isn't long before Jennie sees how tempting life is beyond her place of work . . . Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

When Millie's mother abandons her one late afternoon in 1854, fate brings the seven-year-old to Aggie's door - and life will never be the same for either of them.

Known locally as 'Raggie Aggie' for her business of trading rags and old clothes, the older woman knows the dangers waiting for such a strikingly pretty girl left alone in their rough area of Newcastle, and sees no other option but to take her in. The unlikely pair soon form an unexpectedly strong bond. But there will be obstacles in their paths - will their friendship survive?

Whatever happens, their relationship will change their lives for ever...

(Also known as "The Rag Maid" (2017) and "The Forrester Girl" (1993)

Unwanted and unloved, fourteen-year-old Marie Anne Lawson is everything her mother doesn't want her to be - adventurous, outspoken and unusual. As soon as she's old enough, Marie Anne is dispatched from Northumberland to London to live with her Aunt Martha to learn to be a lady and perfect her musical talent. Life in London proves to be more difficult than she could ever have imagined. Only the friendship of her Aunt's companion and the praise of her music tutor prevents her from falling into despair. When Anne Marie is suddenly sent back to the Manor, will she find the strength to be who she really is

At twenty-one, Jinny Brownlow's life is not going as well as she had hoped. She's working at a dead-end typing job at an engineering firm and has just been dumped by her fiance for her own roommate. Outside of work her only hobby is her local theater group, but even there she's just a general helper and not credited with having any talent at all. Something needs to change in Jinny's life, and it may have to be Jinny herself. "A bloody cultured handmaiden...Yes, that's a good description of you. So agreeable, so polite, so damned eager to please." These are Ray's words to Jinny the night he confesses he's gotten her roommate, Emily, pregnant. Ray had apparently found Emily a more willing bedmate, and he reminds Jinny that things might have worked out had she been more cooperative. Thinking this over after Ray's departure, Jinny recalls the past year with a sigh. Her experiences with men have been disasters. Jinny's lonely life -- working the day away at her desk and sitting alone in her tiny apartment at night practicing French and listening to her radio -- seems destined to continue indefinitely, until one day the owner of the firm, Mr. Henderson, calls her into his office. Known to be a devil of a man who works longer and harder than everyone else, Bob Henderson seems an unlikely candidate to change Jinny's life. When she's called to do typing for him she's terrified but refuses to cower like the other secretaries and ends up earning his respect and affection. On the same day, Hal Campbell, leading man in her theater group, goes out of his way to take a special interest in Jinny and her personal problems, and she realizes she may not have to be as lonely as she thought. Each of these two men will be an important part of Jinny's changing life, inspiring her to become less of a "cultured handmaiden" and think more about what she wants, but she's holding out for the perfect man -- one who will treat her like a princess while respecting her beliefs about marriage and her hesitancy to give herself to any man outside those sacred bonds. After a twisting, unpredictable search, in the end Jinny discovers that there just might be someone for everyone after all. The Cultured Handmaiden displays the beloved Catherine Cookson's powers at their fullest and her enduring themes of hardship, love, virtue, and hope."

Even in the heat of battle, Geoff Fulton would always carry with him the memory of the night he was on leave, when his timely intervention rescued fourteen-year-old Lizzie Gillespie from the oldest of perils for a young girl. The year was 1937 and the place a rural enclave of County Durham.

Seeing in Lizzie a girl of spirit, Geoff concluded that she might, with care and training, solve his problem and benefit herself. So, despite a token resistance from Lizzie's slatternly stepmother, it was agreed that the girl should become a companion/helper to his increasingly handicapped mother.

But, in 1943, when Geoff returned wounded from the desert war, it was to find a Lizzie he hardly recognised - mature and highly attractive. For her part, she could see that he was embittered by his experiences at war, for he now displayed a ruthless streak far removed from the caring person she had previously known.

A Ruthless Need tells with power and perception the story of a girl who, given the chance of a new life, burgeons into a talented woman of ideals and expectations, and who comes to realise that she no longer needs the support of a man she once regarded as her saviour. It is a novel that will be hugely enjoyed by Catherine Cookson's millions of readers throughout the world.

CATHERINE COOKSON'S NOVELS HAVE SOLD OVER 100 MILLION COPIES -------- Cock Shield Farm, 1881 After Molly Geary finds herself pregnant with landowner Angus McBain's child, she is left distraught and ruined. Dishonoured by being the secret mistress of McBain, she must find an alternative suitor to save her reputation, or else the threat of being discarded looms. McBain devises a plan to claim his employee, Davie Armstrong, as the father to Molly's child. Leaving the pair forced to marry, the issue appears resolved. But with secrecy comes consequences, and young Molly realises she is tied in a web of lies beyond what she could imagine... A dark and gritty saga from bestselling author Catherine Cookson about love, loss, and redemption, for fans of Dilly Court and Katie Flynn. Originally published as FEATHERS IN THE FIRE.

'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 Just two years after the death of their mother, Hector Stewart tells his children he plans to remarry and has chosen a distant relative from Ireland to be his bride. Money is tight and the only thing the children remember about Moira Connelly is that she lives in a castle; they suspect that her apparent wealth is the reason their father is so keen to remarry. But Moira has also been far from forthcoming about her own circumstances - thinking she's about to marry into landed gentry, she expects a lifestyle to match this title. So when she arrives in rural Fellburn she is surprised to find a rundown farm as her new home... Can a marriage based on deception survive? Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson. Previously published as The Desert Crop

A gripping story of forbidden love, perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin, Dilly Court and Katie Flynn --------------- Life on the Fifteen Streets is tough - a continual struggle for survival. Born into an ever-expanding family, John O'Brien grew up with nothing to call his own. Now, he works on the city's docks while trying to keep his loved ones safe from the drunken wrath of his father and brother. But everything changes when John meets Mary Llewellyn, a beautiful young woman who belongs to a world of wealth and privilege. What starts off as casual friendship soon blossoms into a rare love, but when John is embroiled in scandal Mary's parents forbid them from seeing each other. It seems the Fifteen Streets has succeeded in keeping them apart, but can their love conquer all? --------------- Praise for Catherine Cookson: 'Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals' Mail on Sunday 'Her characters have the grit of real life' Sunday Times 'Queen of raw family romances' Telelgraph

Willington Place, London, 1879. In London's bustling streets, business is booming for Mabel Arkwright's hat shop. But as her health declines, she must entrust Emily Pearson, her capable and beloved employee, with more responsibility. After Mabel's death, Emily is stunned not only to inherit a completely unique broad-brimmed straw hat, but also the shop. But it isn't long before the extra work leaves Emily on the brink of exhaustion. Resolving to get some rest, she takes a trip to the south of France. There, she meets the stylish and enigmatic Paul Anderson Steerman who is instantly captivated by Emily's beautiful straw hat and sweeps her off her feet. But when they return to England to start their life together, it soon becomes clear that Paul isn't the man he claims to be. Can Emily free herself from his clutches or is it too late...? ---------------- From bestselling saga author Catherine Cookson, this forgotten classic is an epic tale of friendship, love and betrayal. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson. Previously published as The Golden Straw

'Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals' Mail on Sunday 'Her characters have the grit of real life' Sunday Times 'Queen of raw family romances' Telegraph A rags-to-riches story of a young woman who must overcome the scandal of her past to forge a new life. In Heap Hollow cottage in County Durham live what appears to be a close and loving family. But across the happy facade lies a shadow that has lengthened and darkened with the passing years. Their narrow-minded neighbours disapprove of the family's choices because of their illegitimacy, their mother and father never having married. Anna, the eldest daughter, is determined to face the challenging legacy of her birth and prove herself to those in the community who look down on her. Will her strength of character and zest for life be enough to put the scandal of her past behind her and forge a new life? Previously published as The Gillyvors

Rosie finds it hard to cope with her eldest sister's over-possessive nature. Since the death of their mother Beatrice has been insufferably dominating, taking over the running of the house and ruling their father and servants with an iron hand. She glories in being the mistress at Pine Hurst and never dreams of leaving. But when their father dies unexpectedly their security is threatened, and Beatrice must lay plans to protect this most prized possession. How will the sister's survive now their father is gone? Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

When Millie's mother abandons her one late afternoon in 1854, fate brings the seven-year-old to Aggie's door - and life will never be the same for either of them.

Known locally as 'Raggie Aggie' for her business of trading rags and old clothes, the older woman knows the dangers waiting for such a strikingly pretty girl left alone in their rough area of Newcastle, and sees no other option but to take her in. The unlikely pair soon form an unexpectedly strong bond. But there will be obstacles in their paths - will their friendship survive?

Whatever happens, their relationship will change their lives for ever...

(Also known as "The Rag Nymph" (1991) and "The Forrester Girl" (1993)

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.

Even the approach to Christmas fails to excite restless Agnes Conway, the twenty-two-year-old manager of the sweet and tobacconist shops owned by her feckless father. There are dark secrets in Arthur Conway's past, and these come tragically to light when Agnes's younger sister falls pregnant by one of the notorious Felton brothers. And Agnes herself has a secret, which she knows she must keep from her father: her relationship with Charles Farrier, son of a local landowner, who outrages his own wealthy, pious family by proposing marriage. However Charles is not the only man who could shape Agnes's furture, as his brother Reginald makes no secret of his admiration for her. But she could not have foreseen how significant a part he is to play in her destiny... The Wingless Bird is an absorbing story of love and the harsh realities of Britain's class system.