One of the best-selling novelists in the world, Catherine Cookson's story is as dramatic as any of her novels. Born in 1906, the illegitimate daughter of a domestic servant, she was brought up on Tyneside in one of the poorest communities of the western world.But Catherine was determined to escape her situation and with enormous courage and determination made her way out of the slums of her childhood. Later, after a severe nervous breakdown and a tragic series of stillbirths and miscarriages, she attempted to 'write it all out'. 'The Catherine Cookson Novel' became a new literary genre and all of her 97 novels are still in print. But despite the prodigious achievement, she was still haunted by the failure of her relationship with her mother and riven by religious doubts. Her legendary success and her immense generosity are contrasted with a fuller and darker picture of her life. Read Less