Product Description

A powerful, compelling story of false promises and family conflict, set in rural England at the end of the 19th Century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75470 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 448 pages

From the Back Cover
Money is tight in rural Fellburn, which perhaps explains why Hector Stewart, only two years after the death of his wife, announces to his children that he is to marry Moira Conelly, a wealthy distant relative from Ireland.

But Moira hasn’t been entirely honest about her finances. And she has somehow convinced herself she will be marrying into landed gentry, with the lifestyle to match. It is with surprise, therefore, that she first sees the run-down farm that will be her new home . . .

Set at the end of the nineteenth century, this powerful novel of family conflict once again demonstrates Catherine Cookson’s incredible skill for captivating storytelling.

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 bestselling 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 surprisingly good find
Set in Northern England in the late 1800's, widowed farmer Hector Stewart decides to marry Irishwoman Moira Conelly but here's the rub - he thinks she's coming into money and she thinks he's much better off than he truly is. Nor does Moira realize at first she's married a drunken, womanizing wastrel on the edge of running the farm into the ground. Nevertheless, Moira has a secret or two of her own and she does her best to make the best of it, which includes an ever growing brood of children.

Hector's debts and drinking continue to drag down the family's livelihood, until a fatal accident changes all their lives - but it forever binds Daniel to the land and Moira's children. Will Daniel ever be able to break free and claim the woman he loves? Does Frances really love him or is she just looking for the best free ride life can hand her? Will Daniel ever wake up and smell the coffee and see the woman who has loved him for years? Inquiring minds want to know....

While this isn't the fasted paced, page turning, action packed book you're likely to come across I enjoyed it a great deal and definitely plan on seeking out more from the author - and at about 100 novels she should keep me very busy for quite some time. This is the kind of feel-good comfort book that's perfect for snuggling up with on a rainy day or a wintry afternoon. 4/5 stars.

The Desert Crop
This book came very quickly and was well packaged.The book is very good.
Catherine Cookson at her best.I enjoyed the story and how it was kept going untill the end. I just could not put it down.