Customer Reviews

The Girl

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Girl is a book definately worth reading. The characters are very real and believable, and the heroine is absolutely charming. This book teaches us about what one lie can do to you, how it can destroy you and how one truth can make the difference.

As my title states, the heroine of this novel, Hannah, doesn't hold a candle to Cookson's previous heroine, Tilly Trotter, but it was a good story anyways. Hannah is introduced to a man named Matthew at the age of eight and told that he is her father. Immediately after being handed into his care, much to his wife's dismay, Hannah's biological mother dies. Hannah then proceeds to grow up in a household fraught with tension and hate.. mostly coming from her stepmother and one sibling. Thankfully, there is boarding school and off she goes. Upon finishing school, however, her father dies as a result of a scandalous situation. Now left in her vindictive stepmother's care, Hannah has only two choices: Marry the local butcher or hit the streets. What Hannah doesn't know is that there is another option in the form of Ned, who has loved her since she was a child.

She marries Fred and I must say, never gives him a fair chance. Throughout her entire marriage, she decides (finally!!) that she wants to be with Ned and despite the vows she exchanged with Fred, she sees Ned on the sly. Obviously, Hannah is not always a likeable character nor easy to sympathize over. I did, however, like all the scandal and there was quite a bit keeping me on the edge of my seat. The only thing keeping me from enjoying this to a 5 star fullest is how spineless Hannah is in the first three fourths of the novel. Only in the end, does this gal show some real spunk and what a surprise she pulls out of her apron! Had she been so ballsy in the first few parts, I would have enjoyed it more.

Catherine Cookson at her best. Oppression and a hard-scrabble life turns ultimately to triumph for 'The Girl' in this memorable and unforgettably poignant story.