The Girl from Leam Lane (Centenary Edition): The Life and Writing of Catherine Cookson - Softcover

Dudgeon, Piers

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755314980 ISBN 13: 9780755314980

Publisher: Headline, 2007

Synopsis

Catherine Cookson was born 100 years ago in a run-down area on the south bank of the Tyne. Forty-four years later her début novel, Kate Hannigan, established her as a bestselling storyteller of rare talent. But what readers didn't realise was that Kate Hannigan also represented the first step of the author's triumph over a nervous breakdown and a period of confinement in a mental asylum. Still in the throes of her illness, she was transforming her fears out of necessity through her art. Piers Dudgeon was granted exclusive interviews over a 15-year period until Catherine's death in 1998. Now, in the company of her family and others who declined to be interviewed during her lifetime, he sheds new light on the tortured drama of her personal life and her legacy to the nation. This revised biography is a revealing tribute to an enduringly popular writer in her centenary year, and will fascinate her many loyal fans.

About this title

Review:

'An enjoyable and down-to-earth account of a strange, complex and likeable woman.'
-- Yorkshire Post

'Drawing on a close acquaintanceship with Cookson, Dudgeon has produced a fascinating biography of this prolific writer. From Cookson's early life as an illegitimate child in Tyneside, through her years of ill health, mental breakdown and international fame, Dudgeon explores her psyche through the autobiographical elements of many of her novels.' -- Sunday Times

'It is a powerful story and Piers Dudgeon tells it with skill and feeling.' -- Daily Telegraph

Book Description:

Revised and expanded edition of the bestselling Catherine Cookson biography to mark the centenary of her birth

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0755314980
• ISBN 13: 9780755314980
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320