Whistledown Woman

by Josephine Cox

In 1898, Kathleen Wyman lies in labor at Bessington Hall, her husband Edward sure that she has been unfaithful to him. In his blind, jealous rage, he gives away the baby to gypsy Rona Parrish, summoned to help with the delivery. Kathleen, frenzied with grief, is soon locked away in an asylum. Rejected by her father, the little girl begins her new life with only a valuable brooch pinned to her shawl as a clue to her true origins. Starlena grows up in ignorance of her true parentage and vast inheritance, believing her birthplace to be the beautiful Whistledown Valley. And Rona, always afraid, stays watchful over the years for any sign that someone might track Starlena down—someone who wishes her harm.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical

566 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, one of ten children. At the age of sixteen, Josephine met and married her husband Ken, and had two sons. When the boys started school, she decided to go to college and eventually gained a place at university but was unable to take this up as it would have meant living away from home. Instead, she went into teaching – and started to write her first full-length novel. She won the ‘Superwoman of Great Britain’ Award, for which her family had secretly entered her, at the same time as her novel was accepted for publication. She is now a No.1 bestselling author with over 40 books to her name.

She wrote dark psychological thrillers under the name Jane Brindle.

Reviews

[Brigitte Launay]

First book I have read from this author. It was recommended by a friend, thought I would give it a go!
it was an interesting read but not really for me! Fine for a holiday book!
I don’t think I will rush to read another soon!

[Veda]

At its core, it's about what true love looks like. And real friendships. Not the filmy kinda love or the young passionate love, but genuine heartfelt love between any two people no matter what the relationship/bond is between them.

The plotline did annoy me a bit - it reminded me of our Indian serials and movies 🙄
Still, the love portrayed between a mother and daughter was what kept me going. And also that bit of me which was waiting for the evil folks to be brought to justice and the kind folks to finally have some peace in their lives 😬

I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, it was alright though. The gypsy way of life, their free spirited ways, and their connection to nature was decently captured.
The mother-daughter relationship will probably stay with me for a while. The mother reminded me of my amumma all the time. Got to give her a call after I finish putting this up.
And the friendships too, aah, making my heart feel good.

A 3/5 - not unforgettable, but not regrettable either.

Hopefully, I will continue reading and not go back to my non-reading phase again 😭

[Jo Macleod]

I always enjoy Josephine's books in the summer. I find her such a descriptive author and you always feel able to build a great picture of the characters and setting.

Whistledown Woman follows the life of Starlena and her mother, a gypsy woman, Rona. It's full of trials and tribulations, secrets and lies and overall, a journey of discovery for Starlena as she grows into a woman.

The majority of the book is set in and around Lancashire and the Whistledown Valley, but we do get trips to Appleby for the famous gypsy horse fair, and we also get a trip to the states as well.

Thoroughly enjoyable read, perfect for a beach/poolside holiday!

[Elaine Watson]

This story follows the life of Starlena who is raised as a gipsy but her roots may not be true - an enthralling tale and a compulsive read.
All Starlena wants to do is life her life and work with the horses she has grown to love but there are others who have different ideas.
Her ever protective mummy Parish by her side constantly trying to protect her from those who may wish her harm.
The characters are brought alive by Josephine and are believably real.

[Sue]

Not the sort of book I would usually pick up but it was given to me while on holiday so I thought why not. It's a good story. A rich family's lives torn apart by jealousy become entangled with a kind and loving gypsy woman, Rhona who herself has suffered terrible tragedy. Soon Rhona and her young daughter must flee from those who mean to do them harm - will they spend the rest of their lives on the run? Actually a great read.

[Annie]

Whistledown Woman by Josephine Cox was another random selection from my local station free book exchange - the blurb on the back made it sound like it might be my kind of book (young woman discovers previously unknown secrets about her family history) but the tortured, overblown prose, egregious use of exclamation marks in the narrative, and uncomfortably problematic romance referenced in the first few pages had me giving up on it very early on.

[Lynda Meyers]

This is one of Josephines earlier books and I have to say I think one of the best.I first read this 35 years ago and absolutely loved it.So when I saw it had been re released I had to read it again and found it just as riveting as before.Again I couldnt put this book down.From the first page I was hooked and constantly needed to read more because I needed to know what was going to happen next.I would highly recommend this book.

[donna Hehir]

Enjoyed this book so much, read it in several days

Loved this book from start to finish. Loved the storyline and all the character's. I do like a happy ending. Good old fashioned romance and love

[Sheelagh Kathleen Hill]

Captivating read

Slow start, great read for most of the book, end of the read was about "tidying up loose ends" but lacked credibility for me then. Enjoyed most of it - so gave it a high star rating.

[Jenni]

I do like her books, but this one i couldnt get into.

[Cheryll]

A great book with interesting characters and lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing!

[Mrs J A Dobson]

Good read

Loved this one, good storyline had my gripped from the start till the end, certainly one of her best that I have read

[De Beresford]

Whistledown woman

Though found it hard when first reading this novel in understanding the gypsy slang it turned out to be the most captivating read.

[Ruth]

What a wonderfully woven story about two resilient women! Friendships, enemies and love come together in the pages. A great read!

[Lynn Hutchinson]

Great story, kept me interested all the way through and finished well too.

[Daniella Ferrara]

An interesting read!

[Anne Bullas]

Compelling read

What a compelling read this book was I read it in three days not much else getting done at all

[Sheila Mason]

Fantastic

What a different story so many twists and turns. Very interesting keeping you interested from start to finish. A lovely ending as always

[Julie Homer]

Another good book enjoyed the storyline 😍

[Lizette Anderson]

Will Read more from this author. I like historical stories - nice twist at the end

[Anne]

loved this, it kept me interested from start to finish

[Lesley Cooke]

Initially found it hard to get into but there were alot of twists to the story that kept me going till the end, overall really enjoyed it.

[Divinia]

I don’t know where to begin with this book…and that isn’t a good thing in this instance! Embarrassingly, it took me approximately 8 months to read Whistledown Woman, it didn’t grab me from the beginning and I hate starting a book and not finishing, so after months of trying and pushing it back, I completed it, with bitter disappointment. I am a fond reader of Jo Cox as one of my favourite reads is Angels Cry Sometimes, I really didn’t enjoy this book and I wouldn’t recommend it, I’m no author but creating a murder towards the conclusion of a book is always so disappointing and rushed. Sad to say I won’t be reading a Jo Cox book for a while.

[Janet Randon]

Another very good read by J Cox.

[Jo Laws]

one of my favourite books from this author

[Caroline Montague]

Another fantastic read by Josephine Cox

[Angela Free]

Loved it! Thought it would be a bit dull but was a really good story!

[Tracey]

my favorite so far from jo cox

[Barbara Gard]

wonderful

[Mrs Susan Wright]

Enthralling

A thoroughly enjoyable read from start to end, another classic from Josephine Cox, a great author of our time. End