Product Description

Fourteen-year-old Marie Anne Lawson, fleeing from something she could not bear to see, fell and broke her ankle. She was discovered by a local man, known as "the branded man" because of a disfigurement. This is the story of two women and the mysterious man who was to influence both their lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #401177 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 476 pages

From the Back Cover
Fourteen-year-old Marie Anne Lawson, youngest daughter of a prosperous Northumbrian family, fleeing from something she couldn't bear to see, fell and broke her ankle. She was discovered by a local man who, because of a disfigurement, was known thereabouts as 'the branded man'.

Her mother impatiently awaited her recovery, for she had already planned to send her wayward daughter to London, where her Aunt Martha could encourage the child's natural talent for the piano. But Aunt Martha's regime was so harsh that only the friendship of her aunt's companion, Sarah Foggerty, stopped Marie Anne from plunging into despair - that and the encouragement she received from her music tutor. Why, then, did his sudden disappearance make it necessary for her to return to Northumberland, this time into the care of her grandfather?

Set at the turn of the century in Northumberland and London, The Branded Man is the gripping story of Marie Anne, Sarah Foggerty - and of the mysterious 'branded' man, who was to influence both their lives to an extent that neither of them could have imagined. This, Catherine Cookson's eighty-fifth novel, is yet another example of her extraordinary talent for compulsive storytelling.

About the Author
Catherine Cookson
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.

Customer Reviews

A brilliant portrail of a young girls struggle to survive.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved the way it kept you willing for an ending you knew was going to happen anyway. I think Catherine Cooksons talent of making you feel part of the story realy shone through in this novel.