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The House of Women
Emma Funnell is the matriarch of Bramble House, built for her as a wedding gift by Patrick Funnell who had since died. Now into her seventies, and with the avowed intent of living to be a hundred, Emma continued to keep the firmest of hands on domestic affairs and commercial interests.
Under Emma’s roof and rule lived three more generations of the Funnell family, all of them women. Widowed daughter Victoria had over the years become increasingly preoccupied with hypochondria; granddaughter Lizzie bore the brunt of most matters concerned with the running of the house, as well as enduring a loveless marriage to Len Hammond, a bitter, frustrated man with little kindness in him and a good deal of suppressed violence; and great-granddaughter Peggy, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl trying to find the courage to drop a bombshell into their midst. For Peggy had become pregnant by one Andrew Jones, a bright grammar-school lad from an entirely different background. This might be 1968, but the family reaction was surely to be faced with great trepidation.
This explosive situation provides the springboard for a powerful and wholly absorbing novel that explores, over a span of fifteen years, all that fate holds in store for the dwellers in the house of women and those whose lives they touch, reaching its climax with the frank confrontation of a major social issue today.
Under Emma’s roof and rule lived three more generations of the Funnell family, all of them women. Widowed daughter Victoria had over the years become increasingly preoccupied with hypochondria; granddaughter Lizzie bore the brunt of most matters concerned with the running of the house, as well as enduring a loveless marriage to Len Hammond, a bitter, frustrated man with little kindness in him and a good deal of suppressed violence; and great-granddaughter Peggy, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl trying to find the courage to drop a bombshell into their midst. For Peggy had become pregnant by one Andrew Jones, a bright grammar-school lad from an entirely different background. This might be 1968, but the family reaction was surely to be faced with great trepidation.
This explosive situation provides the springboard for a powerful and wholly absorbing novel that explores, over a span of fifteen years, all that fate holds in store for the dwellers in the house of women and those whose lives they touch, reaching its climax with the frank confrontation of a major social issue today.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1992
30 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Cookson
457 books689 followersCatherine Cookson was born in Tyne Dock, the illegitimate daughter of a poverty-stricken woman, Kate, who Catherine believed was her older sister. Catherine 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 contemporary woman novelist. She received an OBE in 1985, was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993, and was appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1997.
For many years she lived near Newcastle upon Tyne.
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 contemporary woman novelist. She received an OBE in 1985, was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993, and was appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1997.
For many years she lived near Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 14, 2018
Really enjoyed reading this book. Storytelling at it's best. Recommended.
December 4, 2024
Easy to read, engrossing book set in Tyneside about a rich woman with a strong personality who dominates the other women in her family. This book includes many themes prevalent in many other Catherine Cookson books such as predatory, vain, ambitious, chauvinist men and the painful social consequences to women who give birth to babies born out of wedlock.
March 31, 2018
YIKES!
So many yikes! Daddy loving on the daughter. Granny cooing for the great-grandson-in-law. 26 year old doctor proposing to the 15 year old teenager...
... Ick. I'm icked out by the characters, and I'm a little icked out by Cookson's normalization of the adult/teenager relationship (as seen in other books as well).
This is not to say I hate this book - it was an absorbing read and kudos to Cookson for trying some new ideas outside of her usual formulas. BUT. Frig. I'm sure this book is constrained by the viewpoints of the time and all, but that doctor is a predator. She's FIFTEEN. AHHHH. But hey, it's 2018, I can judge things now.
It was hard to like this book because I didn't like anyone. Apart from each other, all the characters were their own protagonists and at the root, good people. Together, they were the worst versions of themselves. Maybe Cookson is saying something about family dynamic. Families bring out the worst in each other? None of the romantic interests were appealing. The one thing I tend to dislike about Cookson's books is the habit of settling for the least crazy guy in the neighbourhood. In almost every Cookson book there is a toxic family- and here I think I've met my limit. It was hard to trudge through this book. Reliving a whole new generation of misery. The themes touch on hypocrisy, possessiveness, and the cyclical patterns generations that keep repeating based on mistakes from the past one.
She provides no hope for the characters. What's the point? Slave away and earn an inheritance, or run away to be free but then also get called selfish. The book really does poke an eye at hypocrisy, but Cookson also makes hypocrites out of the points she's trying to make. Was this on purpose? Is she upset at women, or is she upset for them? Len is an asshole, until he isn't. Lizzie is pitiable, until she's a bitter shrew. Victoria is unbearable, until she's Peggy's fairy godmother. Characters come and go, and for what purpose. Such a hodge-podge here. I don't know what to think or feel towards anyone. Maybe that's the point. Maybe this is just a critical lens on society at the time, about how sometimes our hands are tied even when we're staring at the door to our escape.
Thrift store buy, it's going back to the Salvation Army. An entertaining read, and did make me gasp out loud with some icky/shocking moments, but overall a bit of a bummer.
(Also, methinks Cookson might have grown up with an alpha woman in her household - domineering women tend to be a repeated character in her stories).
So many yikes! Daddy loving on the daughter. Granny cooing for the great-grandson-in-law. 26 year old doctor proposing to the 15 year old teenager...
... Ick. I'm icked out by the characters, and I'm a little icked out by Cookson's normalization of the adult/teenager relationship (as seen in other books as well).
This is not to say I hate this book - it was an absorbing read and kudos to Cookson for trying some new ideas outside of her usual formulas. BUT. Frig. I'm sure this book is constrained by the viewpoints of the time and all, but that doctor is a predator. She's FIFTEEN. AHHHH. But hey, it's 2018, I can judge things now.
It was hard to like this book because I didn't like anyone. Apart from each other, all the characters were their own protagonists and at the root, good people. Together, they were the worst versions of themselves. Maybe Cookson is saying something about family dynamic. Families bring out the worst in each other? None of the romantic interests were appealing. The one thing I tend to dislike about Cookson's books is the habit of settling for the least crazy guy in the neighbourhood. In almost every Cookson book there is a toxic family- and here I think I've met my limit. It was hard to trudge through this book. Reliving a whole new generation of misery. The themes touch on hypocrisy, possessiveness, and the cyclical patterns generations that keep repeating based on mistakes from the past one.
She provides no hope for the characters. What's the point? Slave away and earn an inheritance, or run away to be free but then also get called selfish. The book really does poke an eye at hypocrisy, but Cookson also makes hypocrites out of the points she's trying to make. Was this on purpose? Is she upset at women, or is she upset for them? Len is an asshole, until he isn't. Lizzie is pitiable, until she's a bitter shrew. Victoria is unbearable, until she's Peggy's fairy godmother. Characters come and go, and for what purpose. Such a hodge-podge here. I don't know what to think or feel towards anyone. Maybe that's the point. Maybe this is just a critical lens on society at the time, about how sometimes our hands are tied even when we're staring at the door to our escape.
Thrift store buy, it's going back to the Salvation Army. An entertaining read, and did make me gasp out loud with some icky/shocking moments, but overall a bit of a bummer.
(Also, methinks Cookson might have grown up with an alpha woman in her household - domineering women tend to be a repeated character in her stories).
May 18, 2012
I read all of Catherine Cookson's books some years ago and enjoyed them immensley. I recently re-read all of them and find that on a second look I found them all so very predictable, and was rather disappointed. However I'm sure that it is my tastes that have changed not the calibre of her story telling.
June 28, 2015
The House of Women tells the tale of five generations of women living in one house. The house is run by the domineering great-grandmother Emma, whose decisions have an impact on each of the generations.
I was not a fan of this book, and wouldn't recommend it. To me, it handles the subject of pedophilia terribly.
I was not a fan of this book, and wouldn't recommend it. To me, it handles the subject of pedophilia terribly.
September 21, 2017
This felt a little rushed - like it should have been one of those multi hundred page epics that used to be everywhere. Also, everyone in this book was miserable except the matriarch.
August 19, 2024
I used to read a lot of Catherine Cookson growing up, when I moved to where she was brought up. And I did enjoy a lot of her big-named ones, although reflectively, there were situations that seemed to reflect the norm of that era (specifically, big age gap relationships, now could be considered grooming).
This seemed to be set a lot later than others, from the 1960's onward. One thing I would say is I didn't find one character likable in the storyline. All seemed to have been quite selfish, self-centred, etc,. And the ending was a disappointment to me. How it portrayed having to make a 16 year old marry to a guy in his late twenties which they met when he was her doctor... To protect her from her own dad who molested her growing up, and wanted to go the extra step... And then her dad finding a new family...with young daughters... And that's it. There is talk about one day, there will be more protection... But it was the 1980's. I don't know, I wasn't alive then, but that ending just felt icky to me.
I like the fact that it showed the power of money. The matriarch of the family thinking just because she has this this and this, she can excuse the cheating and grooming of HER OWN family, but as soon as something steals from her, oh no! Money has a lot to answer for.
I found the book quite rushed at times, it is set in three different times, which could have easily been three separate books. It could have added more depth to characters and to more so show why they are the way they are.
You could tell it was one of Cookson's later books, her earlier ones are more enjoyable and seemed to read a bit better.
Oh and I would say, some parts were very predictable. Namely, when the maid ran off with Peggy's husband, Andrew. Didn't learn it until much later on in the novel and it just confirmed what I thought earlier on.
This seemed to be set a lot later than others, from the 1960's onward. One thing I would say is I didn't find one character likable in the storyline. All seemed to have been quite selfish, self-centred, etc,. And the ending was a disappointment to me. How it portrayed having to make a 16 year old marry to a guy in his late twenties which they met when he was her doctor... To protect her from her own dad who molested her growing up, and wanted to go the extra step... And then her dad finding a new family...with young daughters... And that's it. There is talk about one day, there will be more protection... But it was the 1980's. I don't know, I wasn't alive then, but that ending just felt icky to me.
I like the fact that it showed the power of money. The matriarch of the family thinking just because she has this this and this, she can excuse the cheating and grooming of HER OWN family, but as soon as something steals from her, oh no! Money has a lot to answer for.
I found the book quite rushed at times, it is set in three different times, which could have easily been three separate books. It could have added more depth to characters and to more so show why they are the way they are.
You could tell it was one of Cookson's later books, her earlier ones are more enjoyable and seemed to read a bit better.
Oh and I would say, some parts were very predictable. Namely, when the maid ran off with Peggy's husband, Andrew. Didn't learn it until much later on in the novel and it just confirmed what I thought earlier on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2018
This book portays different types of women from different eras and definitely their thoughts are different from each other. It has also emphasized on some crucial social issues that are still affecting lives of several women even today. Pretty good storyline, however, as several issues have been addressed at the same time, created a dreary read.
November 23, 2022
Quite like ‘The Justice Of Women’, there were things I didn’t completely understand because of the times it was set in, but I again did enjoy this book. However, a lot of the chapters were fairly long and I hated that. And although I did enjoy the book, i wasn’t completely gripped by it, and ended up in a reading slump, so it took me longer to finish it!
April 27, 2023
This was my first book by this author and although her writing style is good the story itself was kind of icky. I don't think I liked any of the characters. And for the last part of the book that was set in the early 1980s theres some inappropriate stuff happening. I'm kinda grossed out by a 15 year old dating and marrying an adult man.
December 11, 2024
I adore this woman and this story really broke me in a few places seeing the struggle these women had in the eyes of certain society even up to the 80s. Something hit home with this one and will stay with me for a while. Hail the Queen of sagas.
May 18, 2025
Fascinating how women can love and hate other women. Nothing changes until nature and nurture come together to fight against the never-ending evilness of gender identity flaws. Painful but true, unfortunately. People are either naive or cunning.
April 7, 2019
Maybe 2 1/2 stars.
April 25, 2020
Another Great story.
Excellent! I can't say enough about it. It was a book I could not put down! I love this author. You really get your money's worth.
Excellent! I can't say enough about it. It was a book I could not put down! I love this author. You really get your money's worth.
November 24, 2022
Loved the powerful females in this story. Gritty and determined but also an illustration of the inability of some women to understand others.
Read
August 26, 2023Zoals alle boeken van Catherine Cookson, is dit ook weer een prachtig verhaal.
August 8, 2024
A brilliant novel as expected from the great CC. It had me hooked from the start to the end.
August 19, 2024
One of her best. But honestly, they are all good stories.
October 29, 2025
Difficult read. Cookson does a good job of painting a scene and revealing the personalities of the characters, but the subject matter - whewwwww very unpleasant.
November 12, 2025
This story spans 15 years from 1968 and is a generational saga. An enjoyable read.
SYNOPSIS:
Emma Funnell is the matriarch of Bramble House, built for her as a wedding gift by Patrick Funnell who had since died. Now into her seventies, and with the avowed intent of living to be a hundred, Emma continued to keep the firmest of hands on domestic affairs and commercial interests.
Under Emma’s roof and rule lived three more generations of the Funnell family, all of them women. Widowed daughter Victoria had over the years become increasingly preoccupied with hypochondria; granddaughter Lizzie bore the brunt of most matters concerned with the running of the house, as well as enduring a loveless marriage to Len Hammond, a bitter, frustrated man with little kindness in him and a good deal of suppressed violence; and great-granddaughter Peggy, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl trying to find the courage to drop a bombshell into their midst. For Peggy had become pregnant by one Andrew Jones, a bright grammar-school lad from an entirely different background. This might be 1968, but the family reaction was surely to be faced with great trepidation.
SYNOPSIS:
Emma Funnell is the matriarch of Bramble House, built for her as a wedding gift by Patrick Funnell who had since died. Now into her seventies, and with the avowed intent of living to be a hundred, Emma continued to keep the firmest of hands on domestic affairs and commercial interests.
Under Emma’s roof and rule lived three more generations of the Funnell family, all of them women. Widowed daughter Victoria had over the years become increasingly preoccupied with hypochondria; granddaughter Lizzie bore the brunt of most matters concerned with the running of the house, as well as enduring a loveless marriage to Len Hammond, a bitter, frustrated man with little kindness in him and a good deal of suppressed violence; and great-granddaughter Peggy, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl trying to find the courage to drop a bombshell into their midst. For Peggy had become pregnant by one Andrew Jones, a bright grammar-school lad from an entirely different background. This might be 1968, but the family reaction was surely to be faced with great trepidation.
October 18, 2015
Three generations of women live in Bramble House: Emma Funnell (great grandma), Victoria (grandma) and Lissie (mother).
When daughter Peggy becomes pregnant at fourteen, she is forced to marry the father Andrew Jones, which turns out to be a big mistake.
A lesson for parents who seek to rule their children's lives and never let them grow up, make their own decisions and accept responsibility for their actions.
When daughter Peggy becomes pregnant at fourteen, she is forced to marry the father Andrew Jones, which turns out to be a big mistake.
A lesson for parents who seek to rule their children's lives and never let them grow up, make their own decisions and accept responsibility for their actions.
July 26, 2009
A fair book by this author.
Back Cover Blurb:
Bramble house contained a matriachal empire headed by Emma Funnell. The house had been built for her as a wedding gift by Patrick and, now in her 70's, Emma continues to keep the firmest control of the domestic affairs of the three generations of the Funnell family, all women, living in the house.
Back Cover Blurb:
Bramble house contained a matriachal empire headed by Emma Funnell. The house had been built for her as a wedding gift by Patrick and, now in her 70's, Emma continues to keep the firmest control of the domestic affairs of the three generations of the Funnell family, all women, living in the house.
August 7, 2014
Another wonderful story from this author where we follow several generations of women who all have distinct characters - some good some not so good and yet we see more than one side of each of them. Not all the men involved are seen in a favourable light, which creates a wonderful tension throughout the book.
Well written as always with a deceptively easy style - highly recommended.
Well written as always with a deceptively easy style - highly recommended.
April 29, 2009
Not bad but nothing special.
Read
January 24, 2011was good
June 18, 2012
Interesting book about several generations of women and how their domineering matriarch controls them.
Read
February 8, 2013utter crap :-p Maar ik heb het wel met plezier gelezen. Heel licht dingetje over vier generaties vrouwen in hetzelfde huis.
August 22, 2013
I really didn't like this book at all.
Unlike most of Cooksons books I didn't connect with any of the characters, all seemed unlikable.
Unlike most of Cooksons books I didn't connect with any of the characters, all seemed unlikable.
November 21, 2013
Nice fast read and never disappointed when I find one of hers
August 15, 2014
Lovely four generations of women in a house. Two disasterous marriage to the worst kind of vain, arrogant men. A good read... All conflicts resolved at the conclusion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews