Katie Mulholland [Mass Market Paperback]

Catherine Cookson (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Corgi Books (1980)
• ASIN: B000J37YKM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FROM RAGS TO RICHES..., September 5, 2001

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Katie Mulholland: A Novel. (Hardcover)

This well crafted novel by a master storyteller weaves the spellbinding tale of beautiful Katie Mulholland, who began life as the daughter of a miner. The life of a miner in class conscious, mid nineteenth century England was fraught with poverty, and Katie was forced to go into service at a tender age in order to help her family. Her story begins in 1860 which, at the age of fifteen, finds her working long, hard hours in a manor house, as a scullery maid for the Rosier family, who are members of the local gentry and owners of the mine for which her father works.

Due to her beauty she, unfortunately, catches the eye of her employer's handsome and evil son, Bernard Rosier, the heir to the Rosier Mining Company. All, however, goes well, until one night Bernard decides to slake his lust upon the unwilling and shocked Katie. It would be the beginning of a hateful obsession with Katie that would cast a long shadow and haunt both their lives.

Bernard's unspeakable act is the catalyst for a series of events, some quite shocking, that would ultimately have far reaching impact on the entire Mulholland family. Heavy with child, Katie is dismissed by her employer and gulled into a loveless marriage with William Bunting, the manager of the Rosier mines. Katie gives birth to a daughter, whom she names Sarah. After the birth, Bunting's cruelty to Katie goes into full swing. A murder, which would release her from the bonds of marriage, soon follows. This event, however, leads to a travesty of justice that would take the life of one near and dear to Katie.

With her remaining family, Katie leaves for greener pastures and begins what is to be a long and hard odyssey to a better life. What happens along life's path to Katie and those whom she loves and love her makes for a riveting story. It is a tale of great sorrow, hope, love, hatred, betrayal, and, ultimately, redemption. What happens to Katie and her progeny is a rags to riches story that will keep the reader turning the pages into the wee hours of the night.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cookson Classic, January 4, 2000

By 

Kathleen Tustin (Swedesboro, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Katie Mulholland (Paperback)

I read Katie Mulholland many years ago.It was my first Catherine Cookson novel. I still have my original paperback, which I have loaned out to many people over the years. It is quite worn and torn. I had thought that I would never find another.(Her old books are not easy to come by). I was so glad to find this one.I have read many of her books,and now thanks to Amazon.com, I will be able to re-read them. I am truly grateful to your wonderful company.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Katie Mullholland...The best yet!, October 7, 2003

By 

Allison S. Sleeman "allipork" (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Katie Mulholland (Paperback)

Out of the 53 or so Catherine Cookson novels I have read, this was my favorite! It's long and covers about 5 generations, but Cookson weaves the characters together in a most intiguing way.