The Black Velvet Gown - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671682539 ISBN 13: 9780671682538

Synopsis

There would be times when Riah Millican came to regret her miner husband had learned to read and write, and then shared that knowledge with her and her children. It was a rare and even perilous accomplishment. And now he was dead. Lacking nothing in courage and determination, she first took her family to her native place, but found scant welcome and encouragment there. Then suddenly the opportunity to become a housekeeper out in the country arose. And this ins turn leads to many other opportunities for her and her children...

About this title

From the Back Cover:

There would be times when Riah Millican came to regret that her husband had learned to read and write, and then shared his knowledge with her and their children. For this was Durham in the 1830s, when employers tended to regard the spread of education with suspicion. But now Seth Millican was dead and she was a widow with the need to find a home and a living for herself and her children.

The chance of becoming a housekeeper didn't work out, but it led to Moor House and a scholarly recluse obsessed with that very book learning that could open so many doors and yet create so many problems; especially with her daughter, Biddy, who was not only bright, but wilful...

The Black Velevet Gown is the story of a mother and daughter, often at odds with each other, facing the need to challenge and fight the prejudice of an age - a narrative of great power and diversity that is one of Catherine Cookson's major achievements.

About the Author:

Catherine Cookson was born in Tyne Dock, the illegitimate daughter of a poverty-stricken woman, Kate, whom she believed to be her older sister. She began work in service but eventually moved south to Hastings, where she met and married Tom Cookson, a local grammar-school master. Although she was originally acclaimed as a regional writer - her novel The Round Tower won the Winifred Holtby Award for the best regional novel of 1968 - her readership quickly spread throughout the world, and her many best-selling novels established her as one of the most popular of contemporary women novelists. After receiving an OBE in 1985, Catherine Cookson was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993. She was appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1997. For many years she lived near Newcastle upon Tyne. She died shortly before her ninety-second birthday, in June 1998.

About this edition

• ISBN 10: 0671682539
• ISBN 13: 9780671682538
• Binding: Paperback