The Man Who Cried [Paperback]

Catherine Cookson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers (1982)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000MQAEBC
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,422,295 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful adventure, March 19, 2010

By 

Israel Drazin (Boca Raton, Florida) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Abel Mason was essentially a good man, but unlucky in love. He was married and had a son and a mistress in 1931 in England. Abel's wife informs his mistress' husband of the affair and the husband kills the mistress and then himself. Unable to stay another day with the woman who caused the death of his love, Able takes his son, abandons his wife, and heads north looking for work during the depression. His wife reports the desertion to the police and swears that she will get revenge.

After several adventures during his travels, Abel saves an old man who offers him work. The man has a young wife with whom he never had sex. He dies and the wife asks Abel to marry her. He agrees reluctantly to avoid needing to resume traveling and to save his son the toil. Abel falls in love with his wife's sister and has an affair with her.

As one might expect, Abel's wife finds him after nine years of separation, and Abel is tried for abandonment and bigamy. He faces the maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.

The story is well-told and its ending is a surprise.