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Color Blind by Catherine Cookson

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Can love overcome prejudice? Even in the worst days of the recession, the McQueen family remain upbeat. This is what keeps them strong — when all else fails, you can always laugh. Like many of the residents of Fifteen Streets, they are as blunt as they are big-hearted. So imagine their shock when Bridget McQueen brings home her African husband. Colour Blind is an absorbing story of prejudice, racial tension and family feuding in the 1920s.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

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About the author

Catherine Cookson

501 books684 followers
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.

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5 stars
278 (37%)
4 stars
256 (34%)
3 stars
163 (21%)
2 stars
31 (4%)
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16 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for Tara Chevrestt.
Author 25 books314 followers
December 3, 2009
This is a novel about racism and hate and how it destroys a family. Not that the family in this book needs much help destoying themselves. A more hateful family in literature, one will be hard pressed to find. The McQueens, hate each other, they hate their neighbors, and it is inevitable that they hate the new addition to their family, a black man named James.

This new addition to the family comes about when Bridget marries him. When she brings him home, she discovers she cannot take the hateful stares, comments, and remarks and she turns to the bottle. This leads to drastic consequences and James has to run away, leaving his precious daughter, Rose Mary behind.

Following the life of Rose Mary, readers witness racism in the 1950s and the destruction it causes, how ignorance ruins entire families. Towards the end, Rose Mary has a choice between two men that love her and want her no matter her race. (I still have my doubts about the one tho..)

Three stars because I HATED the ending. Also, there is an issue with Bridget's brother Matt that was never fully explained. He seems to desire her or something and I found it almost as disturbing as all the racism towards both James and Rose Mary. And what bothered me more than anything is Rose Mary's nastiness towards Arabs. This didn't fit especially with her having been at the receiving end of racism herself.
Profile Image for Lottie Caldwell.
Author 5 books3 followers
February 13, 2021
In my early teens I read every Catherine Cookson I could get my hands on, but by the time I turned 15 I was pretty much done. Once I finished her early works, her stories had become formulaic, and the romantic entanglements of her always beautiful, always long-suffering heriones, who inevitably came good by nabbing a bloke - became too much to bear. Plus, I had discovered classics, and my burgeoning literary snobbery couldn't allow me to read historical romances. (I'm no longer a literary snob - it was a phase.) But Colour Blind is not only a well crafted novel but deals with a sticky subject close to my heart. Born in the 60s and growing up a mixed race child in a small white town, made me feel disconnected and at times inferior. This was an important book in my development and brought me a great deal of comfort. Now 56, I decided to re-read it, expecting to be betrayed by my memories, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a painful saga that explores how a family is ripped apart by both poverty and racism - inherent traits around Tyneside during the 1940s and 50s. I found the attitude towards Black, and particularly Arab/Middle East characters disturbing, and whether intentionally or not, there is no apologist agenda. It's directness is startling at times, but a clear example of what it was like at that time. A gripping and meaty story in which the romance is fortunately a secondary consideration. Well worth reading.
Profile Image for Laura.
7,133 reviews606 followers
March 22, 2014
A movie based on this book is available at YouTube.


Even in the worst days of the slump, the McQueens kept their chins up. One by one their neighbours had departed for the workhouse, their last stick of furniture carried off by the bailiffs. Even though there was not much on the table, the McQueen house constantly echoed with laughter.

The McQueens were as blunt as they were big-hearted until Bridget McQueen came home one day with her new husband. She had married a negro sailor and bore him a daughter, Rose-Angela. This child grows into a beautiful young girl, but can never escape the feeling of suspicion and hatred that are the heritage of her mixed blood. Her father, a man of fine character who desires only to live decently and at peace with his fellow men, is driven away from his wife and child by the insane jealousy of Bridget’s brother Matt.

Rose-Angela has to face the world with little more than her own courage and the kindly words of an old priest who reminds her that, after all, God is colour blind. This is the powerfully moving story of how she triumphs over prejudice and cruelty; of the love that comes to her; and of her strange reunion with her father.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lynn Smith.
2,038 reviews34 followers
June 15, 2020
A compelling read and good exploration of implied and overt racial prejudice; the difficulties of an inter-racial relationship;its impact on the McQueen Family and how the child of this inter-racial marriage raised in this environment survived and found her own peace and love within this existence.
SYNOPSIS:
As with many of the Fifteen Streets residents, the McQueens are big-hearted and blunt; opinionated and often speaking with no holds barred in the face of any attempt to go against social convention.
Set between the wars, it concerns Bridget McQueen who returns to her Tyneside home newly married to her black husband, only to encounter bigotry from all sides, to say nothing of her obsessed brother's animosity.

Colour Blind tackles issues of prejudice, race, and family; delivered by the unique writing skills of Catherine Cookson, the novel is highly compelling, especially in its portrayal of the McQueens, the most hateful family anywhere.
Hateful of each other, their neighbors and, inevitably, the newest addition to their family, readers are provided a first hand glimpse into racism in the 1950s, the destruction it unleashed and the families it destroyed.
The second half of the book explores the experience of Bridget's daughter Rosie and how her mixed racial heritage impacts upon her life.
Ever since Rose could remember, she knew she was different. Her relatives, her teachers, her schoolmates, even her own mother, all made her aware of that. For Rose's father was of an alien race, and her perfect beauty bore unmistakable traces of her legacy from him. — Now Rose was deeply, desperately in love -- with a man who claimed not to care about the colour of her skin. She tried to tell herself that she at last had found a haven from the viciousness of a narrow prejudiced world. Yet all the while she was steeling herself against the cruel disillusionment that was sure to come.
Profile Image for Bettie.
9,977 reviews5 followers
March 6, 2014
Unabridged, and read by John Davitt. Running Time: 09:44



workaday mp3


This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Shirley Dawson.
Author 10 books35 followers
February 11, 2021
Another great story from the Queen of fiction. A warning though - racial prejudice runs throughout the whole book and certain words used could offend some in the present day world. Nevertheless, it is a real page turner to the very end.
4 reviews
August 11, 2020
I could not put down this book, racing through it in two days. Catherine Cookson's writing is immersive and brings the period and characters to life. This is the first book of hers that I have read and I am impressed.

The blurb on the back of my copy of the book was not at all accurate and made me think I was about to read a completely different story. It painted a picture of the "big hearted and blunt" McQueen family, giving me the impression that this would be a story about a warm, loving and tight knit but conservative family who would be shocked to meet their daughters new husband but eventually overcome their prejudices and welcome him into their lives.

The McQueens were nothing like I was expecting. They were a horrible family. I liked Cavan and their adopted son Tony, but Kathie was detestable and Matt was evil incarnate. He was an interesting villain, and believably scary. However, I wish there was more explanation into his obsession with Bridget. I thought Bridget was a complex character and enjoyed reading about her. However I was hoping for a real love story between her and James.

James and Rose Angela were my favourite characters. James's kindness, sensitivity and love for his daughter was beautiful to read. Their reunion at the end of the story was heart warming. Rose Angela's experience of racism felt very realistic. I sympathized with her and longed for her to find happiness. Catherine Cookson did not shy away from the ugliest sides of prejudice.

I was glad of some romance in the story but did not find it particularly convincing. Rose Angela, out of the blue, was suddenly in love with her employer and they seem to have ended up together by the end. Their relationship felt under developed and I wish it was begun earlier in the story. She is also pursued by an Arab named Hassan. I liked him but he seemed to grow obsessed by her, to the point that he attempted to kill his love rival.

The plot of the book was gripping and made you think. There was plenty of action. The stakes were high. I was satisfied with the ending but would have preferred if Bridget and James's reunion was shown. Also I feel like Matt did not get his proper comeuppance, despite the fact he was killed. I hoped for final standoff between him and Bridget in which she made it clear to his twisted mind that she wanted nothing to do with him.

The period is described in vivid detail. I found this book educational and it helped me picture the Tyneside at that time. The dialogue feels authentic.

Overall, I loved Colour Blind. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lili.
1,103 reviews19 followers
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.
8 reviews11 followers
November 18, 2016
This book put me through an emotional journey it is soo beautiful it almost made me cry 5 times in the day that i read it, i was absolutely stunned and captivated by everything in it especially the love Angela's father had for her.
Profile Image for Berna.
1,133 reviews52 followers
August 7, 2011
I usually like Ms. Cookson's stories but this one was boring at parts. The only parts that affected me were the father-daughter re-unite.
Profile Image for Sarah Goodwin.
Author 22 books758 followers
May 8, 2018
I thought from the blurb that this would be a romance set across race divides - which struck me as interesting. Class has been a feature in all the Catherine Cooksons I've read, but not race. I've also not read one of her more modern books - this one is set just after WW1, the others I've read were in the 1800s.

Obviously with it being written in the 60s I was expecting it to not be 100% PC by modern standards. But I was expecting it to have a point - some kind of statement about love and how hatred only begets hatred. The usual from Catherine Cookson. But instead what I got was kind of....nothing.

Her parents, while in love for a few pages of the story, are quickly revealed to be anything but a love story - her father loves her mother, but her mother regrets marrying a black man, and only did so because they had sex while she was drunk and she got pregnant. We see very little of them as a couple, even though they are together for 4 years - these are skipped over. Then he gets into a fight with her evil brother, and thinking he's killed him, he high tails it to a ship leaving England.

The mother is then left to be sort of romanced by her adopted brother - but this isn't expanded on in any form and they neither get married nor live together.

So in terms of a love story we look to the daughter. Her love interest does appear...only for them not to actually get together by the end of the book. It is implied, but not actualised. For the last quarter of the book she has to pick between a white man she loves, for whom she works, and who says he's 'colourblind' when it comes to her. The other choice is an 'Arab' who loves her but for whom she feels nothing - apart from that being with him would be to be on her 'own level'.

I wasn't convinced of either of them and felt it was a bit forced. There's no reason for either of them to love her, beyond that she is beautiful.

There's also a bit of an antoginist in the form of her uncle, who wasn't killed by her father, but horribly disfigured. He causes trouble for her but in the end is beaten. However the scenes at the end of the book are so vague and POV that there isn't any satisfaction in seeing him finally dealt with.

Could have done a lot more with what was set up at the outset. A sign that Catherine Cookson was not meant to tackle such topics as race - in case anyone doubted that :P

Overall, a bit of a waste of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for April Isabell.
21 reviews1 follower
December 14, 2019
Colour Blind by Catherine Cookson. It is set in Tynesdale, England during World War II. The McQueen family is full of hate, and frustration because of lack of jobs and money. The future seems brighter when estranged daughter announces she is married. The family is in shock when her husband James is a black man.
Bridget and James have a girl name Rose Mary. Unable to cope with the racism of the town as well as James absenteeism for work, Bridget begins to drink with her brother, Matt. James comes home to see Bridget and cavorting in his home. He fights with Matt, almost killing him. He flees for his life, promising to come back for Rose Mary.
Rose Mary works as a servant for local homes. She is consistently hated by the women and lusted by the men for her brown skin and beauty. She eventually finds work for Michael, a local artist. James comes back to town and reunites with Rose Mary. An attraction grows between Michael and Rose Mary. James' friend Hassan is also attracted to Rose Mary and pursues her. James comes back and is reunited with Rose Mary. They keep the relationship a secret.
Matt eventually finds James and tries to kill him and Rose Mary. Michael and Hassan propose to Rose Mary. She realizes she loves Michael. Matt kidnaps Rose Mary and is killed by Hassan. Bridget and James find peace before he dies. Rose Mary and Michael decide to have a fresh start.
Profile Image for Shannon.
96 reviews
November 13, 2023
Minor spoilers 😂

One of Cookson's best stories! An important read that everyone should look at.

I have never gotten through a book as quick as this one. My failed track logging plus the dates from start to end do not reflect this but the day I started reading, I had read over 50%.

The story follows Bridget, who during the First World War makes a bold decision that has social consequences. Her choice to marry James Paterson, a black man as well as have his child, leaves her no peace especially from her mother and disturbed brother Matt. This trickles down to her daughter Rose-Angela and both women experience what it means to love and to hate in the midst of racial conflict.

I watched the BBC adaptation when I was a lot younger as I did with many of Cookson's book adaptations and it was one of the best things I have ever watched. I recommend readers to read this book and watch the film version.

Can I just say Matt is on the top of the list for most hated male book characters. His almost incestuous relationship with his sister and his aggressive hatred of James and Rose is both terrifying and disgusting. He truly deserves the worst. The mum is also disgusting for a whole load of other reasons I won't get into but ultimately their hatred is their own undoing.

An absolute must read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Maggie.
530 reviews3 followers
February 4, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Set along the Tyne on the Fifteen streets, Bridget sends a message home that she is coming home and that she is married. Quite a sensation is caused when she arrives with her negro husband and she is pregnant. Bridget's brother Matt has always had unnatural feelings towards his sister and she is frightened of him. Matt is furious that she is married and sets out to destroy her husband and their child. Little Rose Angela is shunned from all directions until a kindly priest talks with her giving her strength to face her young life as a biracial child. James, Bridgets husband gets in a huge fight with Matt and fears he has killed him then disappears into the night. Life goes on with Matt always skulking around Bridget and putting fear into Rosie. Rosie grows up and takes up employment with an artist as his house keeper. She is happy for once in her life, then James comes back into the picture.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lindsey.
157 reviews
June 27, 2025
This book is a tough read in that it concerns prejudice and racism throughout. However, it is beautifully written with well conceived characters and a moving plot that kept me intrigued from beginning to end. I love Catherine Cookson's books and I am sad they are so hard to find in the states. I found this book in Ireland and others from thriftbooks. Movie adaptations can be found on YouTube, prime, and Tubi.

If you love or just like Charles Dickens' books and/or movie adaptations, you will love Catherine Cookson. Her books contain similar themes of class and prejudice, but have a female protagonist and are so much easier to read. All of her books are also relatively short, like 300 pages.
Profile Image for Luka Onee-san.
241 reviews5 followers
April 25, 2023
This was one heavy story. Racism is never an easy topic. In this book it's explored well at 1900s standard, mind you. As usual Catherine shows all characters views, consequences of those views, fears and happiness(?). I would like to believe that there was happy moments in this book, but mainly only a heavy topic. It's hard for me to rate the book.
Oh, and Christianity was shown as it was - believing itself a superior religion. It actually made me hate it even more. I am Christian Catholic myself. And to tell the truth, I wish I wasn't.
Profile Image for Gemma.
18 reviews
January 22, 2019
Beautifully written. A masterwork of characterisation and suspense. Deals with complex social issues without casting judgement. Touching scenes portraying the relationships between characters.
150 reviews2 followers
February 17, 2021
Racism, prejudice, hate, love, loss, murder, mistrust and truth/lies all being repetitive
10 reviews
March 29, 2025
It was a really touchy subject in today’s society but she tells it as it was . I really enjoyed it !
Profile Image for Amanda Mankelow.
20 reviews
May 8, 2025
When I first started reading Catherine Cookson I was only a teenager and found it quite tough but this was an easy, if a bit dark, read. I was really hoping for a happily ever after however.
Profile Image for Tayloranne Donnelly.
61 reviews88 followers
March 6, 2017
3.5/4 stars. I will always be a fan of Catherine Cooksons female protagonists, who are strong and confident while facing life's hardships. In colour blind, we follow Rose Angela as she faces racial discrimination from her family, her neighbors and society in general, which she takes in her stride while facing her own prejudices. It's not my favourite Catherine Cookson book, but it's still a great read.
Profile Image for Sonia Gomes.
342 reviews117 followers
March 10, 2025
A good book to read if you want to delve the post war poverty in London.

A black and white marriage and its many problems especially if there is a child of this union.
922 reviews18 followers
December 22, 2008
Back Cover Blurb:
When Bridget McQueen announces she is getting married to a sailor, her family are delighted - until they see him and realise he is coloured. Her marriage fires a family feud that is to extend into the next generation.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews

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