Do you want to learn more about the great author Catherine Cookson , but don’t have time to read huge, long biographies? Then let The History Journals take you on an hourly history tour of his life.

Mention the name of Catherine Cookson and images of a bygone era will immediately spring to mind. This truly remarkable author created a literary landscape based on her childhood experiences in the North East of England, and although often labelled a romantic novelist, Catherine Cookson’s gritty plot lines and fascinating characters offer a rare insight into life on Tyneside at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Century, reaching way beyond what you would expect to find in a traditional love story.

Set against the backdrop of the Dockyards of South Shields and the Coal Mines and Factories of the Industrial North, Catherine Cookson’s brave heroines fight to escape the poverty of their birth, and girls like Kate Hannigan, Tilly Trotter, and Hannah Boyle offer a great sense of hope to all who are fortunate enough to encounter them. In circumstances, which wore all but the toughest of Tyneside’s working-class women into an early grave, or turned them to drink and prostitution, Catherine Cookson’s heroines have the strength and resolve to better themselves. The fact that they often go on to fall in love with heroic men, whether from the ranks of the working classes or the gentry, is undoubtedly where Catherine Cookson’s romantic reputation has come from, and in terms of book sales this has, quite literally, put this very special lady of letters, in a class of her own.

However, there are times when fact can be much stranger than fiction, and as you begin to take a closer look into the life and times of Catherine Cookson, it’s evident that even as a little girl, her own life story was as colorful and traumatic as any of the characters she would create in later life.

You will learn about:

• Catherine’s birth, her family, and the trauma of her childhood.
• Industrial revolution, alcoholism, affecting landscapes.
• Between the wars, the workhouses, leaving the North East.
• World War II, the love of her life, miscarriages, depression.
• Kate Hannigan, The Fifteen Streets, coping with her mother.
• Catherine Marchant, return to the North East, death and legacy.

The History Journals

We create enlightening history books for people looking to learn about topics in a quick study guide format. Our books won’t take you days to read (or listen to) - but can be enjoyed over a cup of coffee and an hour or so of your time. They are the perfect starter to see if you’d like to delve deeper into any specific subject.