The Gambling Man

by Catherine Cookson

Book by Catherine Cookson

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Historical Romance, British Literature

Mass Market Paperback

First published November 10, 1975

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

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was an extra in the film with Robson Green!!! Was a fun day and got a kiss from Robson.....and the wardrobe dept was excellent! Fab hob nail boots and a basque ( I was playing the part of a "loose woman !! LOL)

[Shirley Revill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think this was one of the first Catherine Cookson books that i ever read.
Believe I was camping in a tent reading by torchlight with rain pounding down on the canvas.
Something magical in reading a book like that.
Highly recommended.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description: Rory Connor was a gambling man and he had a gambler's luck. From the day he was born, his mother had known that Rory would be the one to make something of his life. At seven years old he was earning money from odd jobs and by fourteen he was in full-time work. By the time he had escaped the factory to become a rent-collector. Now, at twenty three, ambition was in full flow and he was always looking to bigger and better games to play. He feared nothing and nobody, not even the unscrupulous landlord he collected for. For an ordinary working lad, he was doing well - until one day his luck changed and suddenly things did not go as smoothly as he was used to...



Ay-up! looksee here: it's Robson Green. Watch here. This story is slightly different; usually Cookson's stories centre on strong women who persevere through to make a better life regardless what is thrown at them.







3* The Dwelling Place
3.5* The Glass Virgin
3* The Fifteen Streets
3' The Girl
5* The Rag Nymph
3* Katie Mulholland
3* The Cinder Path
4* Feathers in the Fire
3* Colour Blind
3* The Silent Lady
3* The Branded Man
3* Pure as the Lily
4* The Maltese Angel
3* The Fen Tiger
4* The Wingless Bird
3.5* The Black Candle
4* The Black Velvet Gown
5* The Round Tower
3* The Gambling Man

5* Tilly Trotter
5* Tilly Trotter Wed
5* Tilly Trotter Widowed
5* Tilly Trotter Alone

3* The Mallen Streak
2* The Mallen Girl (to revisit)
3* The Mallen Litter

4.5* The Mallen Secret by Rosie Goodwin, which leads straight into ...
4* The Mallen Curse

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rory recovers after being left for dead by the Pittie brothers and discovers that his friend John has been jailed for the theft of £5 from his boss's safe. Meanwhile, the business is being run by Charlotte, the boss's daughter, who is proving herself to be a capable businesswoman. Charlotte suspects the Pittie brothers of attacking Rory and tries to find out more...

A movie was made on his book and it is available at You Tube.

[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!

[Deborah Siddoway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all of the Cookson novels I have read so far, this one is my favourite, and, in my opinion, the one that is the best written. As you would come to expect from such a prolific novelist, she creates a realistic setting, engaging characters, and a pacy narrative lawyered with relatable conflict and suspense.

Having read Cookson's biography, it is hard, sometimes, to disengage from a historicist's reading of the book. Was she ploughing some of her own maternal issues into her character of Rory as she explores the impact of being born on the wrong side of the sheets? It makes for an even more interesting read.

One of the most interesting aspects of this book, however, [spoiler follows] is the return of Janie, Rory's wife. Assumed drowned at sea, she reappears Lazarus like, after Rory has remarried and is expecting a baby with his new wife Charlotte. Janie was portrayed in the early chapters of the book as a hard-working, good woman, with commendable concern for Rory's friend John George as he faced paying the price for Rory's crime. Yet when she returns, she is made into something monstrous, a horrific caricature of the woman she had been before her disappearance. Her hair is white - she returns as an old woman, 'foreign' with a youthful face. What is worse, is that when she confronts Rory, he reinvents his past to accuse her of always harbouring a hardness inside her, that he just didn't see it at the time.

There are a lot of issues of class and sex at play here. Was Cookson uncomfortable with the notion that middle class Charlotte's baby should be bastardised with the return of this first wife? Was she reluctant to disturb Charlotte's happy ending? Because at the end of it all, it is poor, hard-working, decent Janie that does the right thing and refuses to reveal who she is to the wider world and claim her rightful place (and inheritance that would follow) as Rory's living wife. Despite Cookson seeming to do her utmost to demonise Janie, she was the one most deserving of the reader's compassion and pity.

I think the complexities of the book are what make it the most appealing to me. There is a lot to unpick. Gambling is also the least of the concerns of the novel. It is not really about the problems that can arise because of gambling. What it is about is what Cookson does best - complex relationships, family secrets, and people just getting by as best they can when the world throws problem after problem at them.

[Sylvia Six]

This was a typical Cookson book for a light read.

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say, good book, good movie.

[Michelle Wiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was yet another brilliant story by Catherine Cookson. I have read a few of her books in the past but am now re-reading and also discovering stories I haven't read before.

[Franziska Self Fisken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really absorbing, unputdownable, passionate book about Geordie people, many very hardy, kindly and loving, living in the late 19th Century.

[Helen Geng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, 1st Cookson I’ve read in which the hero dies.

Read February 2024

[Magdalena Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Cookson and this is one of my faves

[Mr John Allegranza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I recommend it.

Great book. I recommend it. I initially recalled watching the TV version & it was so memorable, & good, that I then decided to read the book.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an enjoyable read.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the author's really good books - this was made into a TV series.

Back Cover Blurb:
Rory Connor was a gambling man and he had a gamblers luck. From the day he was born, his mother had known that Rory would be the one to make something of his life. At seven years old he was earning money from odd jobs and by 14, he was in full time work. By the time he was 19, he had escaped the factory to become a rent-collector.
Now at 23, ambition was in full flow and he was always looking for bigger and better games to play. He feared nothing and nobody, not even the unscrupulous landlord he collected for. For an ordinary working lad, he was doing well - until one day, his luck changed and suddenly, things did not go as smoothly as he was used to....

[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.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only book I've read by Catherine Cookson but i enjoyed it enough that I should be looking for more books by her. Brenda has a great list of those she's read and i'll have to find and read them :)

[Shawn Machen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my first Catherine Cookson book and it wasn't that good actually. I found it to be very predictable in the plot, and honestly, it was a GIGANTIC disappointment. I'm sure its just my taste in books and this wasn't my "cup of tea" but for me it was a let down.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, but sad too

[Lynn Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a favourite of mine again nothing to do with the writing just about the gambling and the characters I could not identify with.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A supposedly dead wife returns to her remarried husband.

[NorikoY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, dear! I have just finished this book, and no doubt, this is Cahterine Cookson's best! I am still tearing!
I like other Catherine Cookson's, like the dowelling place, the black velvet gawn etc... but, this story is such complex, and the fact the main character is a man, who, in his own way, did his best! I might update my review, if I ever re-read this again, but, I like a man like this. I also liked the relationship between him and his family. Life is ... not always as a mother predicted. Hard. But, that is still life...