Spinners Lake - Softcover

Jacobs, Anna

4.57

1,292 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1444706721 ISBN 13: 9781444706727

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Set in a 19th-century Lancashire mill town, this book follows the Gibson family's fortunes. Joanie Gibson is fed up with life, her sister is about to marry a lord, and she is still a seamstress, until she meets dashing Bart Burns. However, unemployment is rife, and malevolent forces are at work.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around. (Historical Novels Reviews)

Catherine Cookson fans will cheer! (Peterborough Evening Telegraph)

Anna Jacobs' books have an impressive grasp of human emotions. (The Sunday Times)

From the Author:

Background information about this book from author
SPINNERS LAKE is the fifth and final book in the Gibson Family saga - though I will confess that I have a secret wish to write the story of Annie's brother Mark - one day! It's complete in itself, but you'll enjoy it even more if you've read the others first.

I got the idea for the theme of this book - Civil War in the US causes cotton famine in Lancashire and Annie has to find a way to help her mill workers to earn a living. So she decides to creat a lake. I grew up in Rochdale and we used to go to Hollingworth Lake for day trips. I only found out after I emigrated to Australia that it was an artificial lake - and how early it was constructed. I had a bit of a worry about how you actually make a lake, but luckily I met a man who builds dams and he spent half an evening at a barbecue drawing diagrams in the ground to show me.

When I began writing the book I wept for a week, because Frederick Hallam, a character I loved, was dying. He's a wonderful man and makes advance plans to smooth the future path for his beloved wife Annie.

Tian Gilchrist, whom Annie met in HALLAM SQUARE (Book 4) is still in love with her, but knows she is sincerely mourning her husband, so goes to America and gets caught up in the Civil War there. It was great fun researching that part, and I found a picture of an actual street in New York in that period, so had him take lodgings there.

Annie's youngest sister Joanie has her own problems. She's fed up with everything till a new admirer crosses her path - but his family make their relationship very difficult.

Since it's not going to be easy to persuade Annie to consider marriage again, I had to make Tian vulnerable - and even then I knew the relationship would be stormy. I didn't realise when I started writing the book how dangerous it would be for Annie at the end - but of course, this is an Anna Jacobs book, and all my books have happy endings. Try it and see!

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.