The Fifteen Streets: A Novel [Hardcover]

Catherine Cookson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

Catherine Cookson was one of the world's most beloved writers. Her books have sold millions of copies, and her characters and their stories have captured the imaginations of readers around the globe. Now, available for the first time in this country, comes one of Cookson's earliest and most stirring historical romances: "The Fifteen Streets."

John O'Brien lives in a world where surviving is a continual struggle. He works long hours at the docks to help support his parents' large family. Many other families in the Fifteen Streets have already given up and descended into a dismal state of grinding poverty, but the O'Briens continue to strive for a world they are only rarely allowed to glimpse.

Then John O'Brien meets Mary Llewellyn, a beautiful young teacher who belongs to that other world. What begins as a casual conversation over tea quickly blossoms into a rare love that should have been perfect. Fate steps in, however, when John is accused of fathering the child of a local girl, and Mary's parents forbid her to see him. The couple begins to realize that the gulf of the Fifteen Streets between them is a chasm they could never bridge-or might they still find a way?

In these pages Catherine Cookson displays the irresistible plotting, scene-setting, and characterization that have made her a recognized master of historical and romance fiction. Fans of her novels, with their larger themes of romantic love and class conflict, will be delighted to find that even at the beginning of her illustrious career, Cookson had the power to captivate audiences. Filled with passion and compelling drama, "The Fifteen Streets" is a rare treat for lovers of romantic fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British readers have been familiar with this early novel by Cookson for five decades, but this reissue will please American fans who crave the late author's sudsy historical novels. John O'Brien, born in the Tyneside area of Northumberland called the "fifteen streets," is caught up in the vicious circle of poverty, drink and deeper poverty endured by the residents of this slum district. He works as a laborer on the docks, trying to add to the family's precarious finances, keep his mother and sisters safe from his drunken father and brutal brother and protect them from the religious violence that often roils the largely Irish Catholic neighborhood. John thinks only sporadically about a better life until a non-Catholic family moves nearby. The kindly Brackens, who preach spiritual healing, are feared and persecuted in the neighborhood, even by John's own family, but they persevere in their message of tolerance and intellectual empowerment, and open John's eyes to a different way of thinking and believing in God. At the same time, John meets his sister's beloved young teacher, Mary Llewellyn, who opens not only his eyes but his heart. Their love affair is scandalous, since Mary is the daughter of a prosperous shipbuilder. Slander, violence and death take their toll before the lovers tentatively plan a new life together. Cookson's strong and touching characterizations and atmospheric setting carry this narrative, which dramatizes the cruel legacies of religious bigotry and the rigid British class system.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Helen DunmoreThe Times (London)Catherine Cookson's novels are about hardship, the intractability of life and of individuals, the struggle first to survive and next to make sense of one's survival. Humour, toughness, resolution, and generosity are Cookson virtues, in a world which she often depicts as cold and violent. Her novels are weighted and driven by her own early experiences of illegitimacy and poverty. This is what gives them power. In the specialised world of women's popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743236785
• ISBN-13: 978-0743236782
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,189,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Historical Romance!!!, November 28, 2003

By 

Charlotte "gotshakespeare" (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fifteen Streets: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is the first book I've read of Catherine Cookson and what a great book I found. Cookson's writing flows efortlessly, letting you enjoy the story more. John a son to a poor family living in the fifteen streets falls in love with his sister's schoolteacher, a wealthy beautiful woman. John is torn between his love for her and knowing the huge gap between their classes. A wonderful story filled with love, sorrow, that has a great ending. A superbly written novel that everyone will enjoy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, September 20, 2009

By 

Quailynn C. Mcdaniel "Maureenn Lewis" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fifteen Streets: A Novel (Hardcover)

Catherine Cookson was an amazing author. Highly recommend her books. The seller was FANTASTIC. The best service, book in new condition. The highest Recommendation for the seller.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars strong historical relationship drama, December 20, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fifteen Streets: A Novel (Hardcover)

THE FIFTEEN STREETS are slums filled with abject poverty that usually leads to its residents giving up on the future as the hard work destroys the dreams and hopes for something better if not for themselves at least for their offsprings. A drunk sired John O'Brien, yet the lad once believed that hard work was the avenue out. However, his toil on the docks has left him with deep doubts and the realization that the odds are he will end up just like his dad.

Upon meets his younger sister's teacher Mary Llewellyn, John renews his belief he will make something of himself because now he has the impetus to become a better person. Mary comes from a higher class than John yet prefers working with the children of the FIFTEEN STREETS in the belief that education is the ticket out of destitution. As John and Mary fall in love, the pressure increases to end this forbidden relationship that binds two people from opposite sides of the tracks.

Although the class differences blocking a relationship seem antiquated, this reprint of a classic Catherine Cookson book stands the test of time due to the ageless themes that survival and intelligence is inadequate without love, passion, and hope. The descriptions of the FIFTEEN STREETS neighborhood are sadly realistically horrifying then and now yet brilliantly interwoven into a powerful plot. Fans will admire Mary and root for John to overcome the impossible, which is why the deceased Ms. Cookson remains a favorite.

Harriet Klausner