Product Description

Louise and Ben Hunter's loving marriage is marred only by their unfulfilled longing for a child. Living and working with Ben’s father, Ronnie, they are quietly contented. But when Ronnie dies, their whole world changes. Ben’s lazy brother, Jacob, returns, convinced he stands to inherit Ronnie’s small fortune. And he means to have his brother’s wife; though just as she did years before, Louise warns him off. Jacob, however, is not so easily dismissed. When he realises Ben will inherit everything, Jacob is beside himself with rage, and commits a terrible deed, one that threatens to destroy everything his brother and Louise hold dear...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #209136 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 437 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Josephine Cox's The Woman Who Left opens in 1952 in The Vale of Salmesbury, Blackburn. Sally Hunter has just lost her loving husband, Ronnie, a farmer who worked the land all his life to provide a meagre, but honest living for his family. Of their two grown-up sons, Ben had taken his place beside his father, grafting hard to make his living in the family business, while the rightful heir--his older brother Jacob--has caused nothing but sorrow and despair for as long as anyone can remember. When the will is read, no one is surprised that Ronnie has left the farm to his younger son. Ben, his wife Louise (who is widely admired for her beauty and loyalty) and Sally are relieved that their home will remain theirs--until Jacob intervenes. Consumed by jealousy, the errant son soon finds a way to wreak his revenge and change the lives of those he despises most in the world, beyond the realms of even his wicked imagination.

Josephine Cox writes about what she knows best: post-war, everyday life in the Lancashire countryside and the relationships, rivalries and jealousies that make and break ordinary families. Cox's men are largely ineffectual--weak at best, wicked at worst--while the women are "copers", capable of managing whatever fate throws at them, whatever their station in life. The story moves quickly from one heart-wrenching event to the next, while the descriptions of ordinary life in between give it a solid grounding in reality. Cox fans will be delighted with The Woman Who Left-­and even more thrilled with the imminent publication of a sequel. --Carey Green

About the Author
Born in Blackburn and now living in Oxfordshire with her husband, Ken, Josephine Cox is widely recognised for her authorship of immensely popular North Country sagas

Customer Reviews

emotionaly challenging and at times, nail biting stuff!
The book was not the most original of texts but was, none the less, enjoyable to read. The character development grows at the same pace as the story-line does, however, this can be a good quality in a book and certainly was in this case. As soon as you here of Ronnie's death, you began to logicaly predict what will happen in terms of general inheritance but the brother comes back tale is very well known and the dreadful action that he feels he has to take is hardly un heard of. I hope more people who read the book will share my views and express them themselves after a strong and complex read.