A Marriage of Scandal

by Catherine Cookson

It is 1913 and the approach of Christmas fails to excite the restless Agnes Conway, the twenty-two-year-old manager of her feckless father’s adjoining sweet and tobacconist shops. There are dark secrets in Arthur Conway’s past, and these come tragically to light when Agnes’s younger sister becomes pregnant by one of the notorious Felton brothers. And Agnes herself has a secret which she knows she must keep from her an attachment to Charles Farrier, son of a local landowner, who outrages his own pious family by proposing marriage. But Charles is not the only man who shapes Agnes’s future, for his brother Reginald makes no secret of his admiration for her. She could not have foreseen how significant a part he was to play in her destiny...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Historical, World War I, Novels, Media Tie In

516 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

Catherine 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.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars

This is a magnificent British WWI-era story. Agnes Conway is the central character who faces a series of family crises with strength and dignity. She is lucky enough to find love, but it comes with various challenges of its own.

Marvelous characterizations and heart throughout, tackling such topics as family dysfunction, class prejudice, gender inequality, the horrors of war, and PTSD. The realism is heartbreaking, showing the tragic loss of young life common in this era. Thankfully, it ends on an upbeat note.

The plot builds on various character actions and their outward ripple effects on others. I love the smooth writing, which draws the reader into these characters' lives and shows us what makes them tick.

It's not my usual reading fare, but I'm so glad I picked it up. Content is clean. Highly recommend!

[Suz · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mum told me about this author, I need to revisit!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

.From IMDb:
On the eve of World War I, Agnes Conway manages both the business and the problems of her troubled family. She finds the strength to break class barriers and help her sister Jessie marry a good boy from a family of dockside toughs. Is she strong enough to break them again when Charles Farrier, a gentleman, courts her over his parents' opposition? Agnes faces an added dilemma when she finds her heart divided between Charles and his soldier brother Reginald.

The movie is available at YouTube.


4* Feathers in the Fire
5* Katie Mulholland
5* The Black Velvet Gown
5* The Rag Nymph
4* The Black Candle
3* Colour Blind
4* The Dwelling Place
4* The Glass Virgin
4* The Gambling Man
3* The Girl
4* The Maltese Angel
5* The Round Tower
3* The Cinder Path
4* The Fifteen Streets
3* The Moth
4* The Wingless Bird

The Mallen Trilogy:
4* The Mallen Streak
2* The Mallen Girl
3* The Mallen Litter

Tilly Trotter Trilogy:
4* Tilly Trotter
5* Tilly Trotter Wed
4 Tilly Trotter Widowed
TR Tilly Alone

Autobiography:
4* Our Kate

TR The Silent Lady
TR Dinner of Herbs
TR The Tide of Life
TR The Man Who Cried

[Shirley Revill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written. Really enjoyed.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of her best books - riveting and a page turner.

Back Cover Blurb:
Agnes Conway has had to put up with a violent father, who owns adjoining sweet and tobacconist shops; a mother who doesn't care and a flighty sister who becomes pregnant by one of the notorious Felton brothers. Although Agnes still loves them all she spends her time working in the family shop hoping for a life of her own.
Then all at once she discovers that things are not right with her family, her parents hate each other violently, and her sister is in love with 'scum of the docks'. At the same time she meets a charming man whom she falls in love with.

[Jennice Mckillop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally enjoyable. Written at a time when women really had no agency over their lives, & most ended up living with cheating husbands, & in this case having to care for the child from the mistress.
Then there R the class prejudices. My goodness. So many reasons not 2 love someone.
In this story, love overcame the prejudices but not without a heavy price.

A movie was made based on this book. It was well done & added some meat to the written words. A good complement.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in most of Cookson's books she writes with strong female characters overcoming some miserable circumstance or misfortune. I also love the English accents given her characters. If you like books set in old England and well developed characters, you will enjoy books by Catherine Cookson!

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the free little libraries in my part of town seemed to have multiple books by Catherine Cookson, so I thought I’d give one a try, although this particular copy came from a rundown used bookstore in an odd smelling basement. And overall, it was mostly dialogue with lots of drama, some historical details to support the plot, and lots of slightly forbidden, scandal inducing romance between British classes (in this case the landed gentry and a shop-factory owner AND the sister of the shop owner and one of the notorious Felton brothers whose family works the docks, gets in fights and commits petty crimes!). It was angsty, surprisingly chaste and good / love does indeed prevail even though there was PLENTY of tragedy along the way. Kinda get why one of my grandmothers was a fan.

[Jane Woodcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a right riveting read. Most enjoyable story. As with most of Catherine Cookson books. Like the way she writes as if she really cares about her characters. Also the in depth way she describes things, makes them so clear in your mind.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A love story, a family saga and a reminder about the unexpectedness of life. Enjoyable.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Mairi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catherine Cookson's writing style is interesting. Sometimes she is very descriptive and other times not at all. Her dialogue is sometimes awkward too. The story and the characters, however, are amazing, and I couldn't put the book down - especially the last 50 or so pages. I really love this story.

[Penny Kettlewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I enjoy all of CC's writings, but especially this one as she makes one actually care about her characters as she weaves her historically correct stories with humor + wisdom.

[Darbella · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, just okay. I think I would have enjoyed this better as a tv show or movie. Going to try to eventually rent the dvd of this. This book kind of reminded me of a soap opera about this time period except the romance was tame/lame.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set during and after the First World War, this was a touching and entertaining story with both romance and tragedy. I especially really liked Agnes' character. A very enjoyable read.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite

[Lisa Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very easy to read and I did enjoy it but there is just nothing particularly memorable about it, it touches on some topics which should be emotional and hard to hear but somehow came across as bland, dont know if it is the british stiff upper lip thing or whether there were just so many injured soldiers in Britain that they became invisible. The best part of the story is definitely when Agnus helps her sister to elope with her boyfriend but even then their is very little emotion to the story, her mothers outburst and discovery of her fathers indiscretions are equally downplayed and even being shot by her father lacked depth. I liked the storyline I just didnt connect with it, maybe because it is not told as a first person you dont get to experience the heroine's emotions. I cant quite but my finger on why it doesnt work but it just doesnt seem to make me feel anything, it didnt have a moral and it didnt really teach me anything, this is like a statement read in court you get an outline of the events but not the effect of them.

[Paige Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Marriage of Scandal is the first Catherine Cookson book I have read. And I have mixed feelings about it. While I did continue to read, at times quite ravenously, the foreshadowing throughout this book was very heavy handed. All the major events in the story were predictable. Who couldn't see, right from their first meeting, that Agnes would fall for her male admirer's brother, Reg? Not only was it made apparent on their first meeting, it was obvious each time the two were mentioned on the same page. And

If you don't want to have to think too much when reading a book then CC is the author for you, I suspect.

It's not that I didn't enjoy this book but reading it felt like a guilty pleasure. Sometimes thinking is overrated, I tell myself, particularly when a number of modern authors are coy about giving away even basic plot information. Sometimes it's good to just read to escape.

[France Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il y a longtemps que je n'avais pas lu un roman historique, ça m'a rappelé à quel point j'aime ces univers. Dans ce roman, on retrouve Agnès, en 1913 en Angleterre, qui se demande si elle acceptera de se marier un jour. Venant d'un milieu plus pauvre et étant vendeuse au magasin de son père, elle se voit quitter la maison, mais pas nécessairement pour se marier. Des secrets de famille, des drames et la distinction des classes sociales sont au centre de ce livre. Sans oublier, l'amour et le mariage. Pour une lecture légère, tout en douceur qui vous transporte à une tout autre époque, dans un autre pays, je vous recommande cette lecture.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the TV adaptation and the book was an equal pleasure to read. Catherine Cookson may not have liked to have been called a romance novelist but she does a good job at the genre. I loved Agnes, and Reggie was my favorite of the two brothers. It helped they were played by such good actors. I recommend to anyone who likes strong women and novels set during the great war.

[Sammi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time I read a Catherine Cookson book, i'm so surprised by how much she manages to fit into every story! So much went into this, and every character was different. I also love reading her books because she sets them in the area I live, so I'm so familiar with the settings and the history she writes about, which is a great change.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear Catherine,
Bless your little heart! I am in self isolation and what better way to forget one’s troubles than to dive into your novels. There is always so much offered. I’ll try never forget you for this.

[Sallie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couldn’t put down!

Again, Ms. Cookson draws you in and keeps you so involved you can’t put the book down. The story of Agnes life is unfolding and you watch the whole time. A family owned business, a girl proving herself in a mans world while falling in love.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over een rijke erfgename van enkele fabrieken. Haar nichtje is verliefd op iemand die haar voor haar geld wil trouwen, ( maar ze heeft geen geld) de rijke erfgename beloofd hem geld als hij met haar trouwt.
Dat is een van de verhaallijnen.

[Carmen Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually like Catherine Cookson books but this didn't have the exciting drama that I'm used to in her books. The characters were well developed. I guess I was looking for a dramatic twist in the plot but this time it was almost expected.

[Lyndsey Gollogly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I love a Catherine Cookson all the drama, hardship , romance and feel good endings. This was a quick and entertaining read. She will always be the Saga Queen for me. This did not disappoint and the ending was bitter sweet.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this period piece romance!! Such a satisfying read and loved the ending. My mum recommended me this author who she used to love. It’s like a trashy romance but well written and set in the war. Loveeee. Would read more from the author if I’m looking for easy comforting reads.

[Robin Raines-Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent depiction of the time period. I felt transported back.

[Shaista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a joy to read her books✌️