What do you think?
Rate this book
The Cinder Path
'You're a loser; you were born a loser.' Was that the whole truth about Charlie MacFell? Was he just the kind of nice chap who always takes the dirty end of the stick, lacking the inner strength to take a firm stand in life or love alike? In one of the most powerful and distinctive novels that this author has written, Catherine Cookson brilliantly portrays a man in search of himself and tells a story of exceptional dramatic force which carries the reader from the rural Northumberland of Edwardian times into the holocaust of the Western Front in the First World War. And at the root of the matter is the cinder path of Charlie's boyhood home; a place of harsh associations that would come to symbolise the struggle with destiny itself. 'No fan should be without it' Good Book Guide
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
34 people are currently reading
403 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Cookson
501 books685 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 9, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
did-not-finish
April 6, 2014I'm not really enjoying this one so I'm bailing at 44%. Too many unlikable characters and I'm tired of everyone grousing at eachother.
June 22, 2010
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!
August 26, 2018
I was really reluctant to read this one. I saw the movie first, and the girl who played Nellie was goo-od.... but also unwatchable. I liked her, but she was bit of an overactor. I wasn't digging the romance in the slightest. Same can be said for this book. Nellie turned out to be a bit much, and as I wasn't digging the romance. That said, I can clearly see why this is Cookson's better works (although deeply flawed as well).
I should preface by saying that I've been reading way too much of her books to be fully objective, as my saturation point flooded a while back.
This book is worth reading for Charlie MacFell alone. The meek son dominated by powerful women is a repetitive character among Cookson's character stock, and watching them learn to assert themselves is often worth the book price. It is interesting then, that in the Cinder Path, Charlie Macfell asserts himself, but without the learning portion of it. War forces his hand. Much to everybody's surprise, he becomes a good soldier and leader. His natural, embedded cowardice is only eclipsed by his concern for others, and he is led by the stronger impulse. Which, basically, is to take care of his men. Charlie never learns confidence. He never learns bravery. He does good things because being good and kind are part of his makeup. He essentially remains the meek, dominated, unsure, ineffectual nice fool of a figure, and that's okay. He is what he is. Sometimes I get so sensitive in life, that even though I don't want to die, I wonder how I can live through it. My sister once described me as a kicked puppy who keeps going back for love but getting knocks instead, and never quite learning the lesson. Charlie Macfell is the exact same way. Life, and its people, hurt him, drain him, demand too much of him. But he tries and tries again. Cookson reminds us that these kind of people are a'ight, as is. We don't all need changing. We're not ineffectual when there are people who love us, as is.
Cookson doesn't have a lot of war stories, but this is one of her better ones. There is a scene where Charlie is on leave and is exploring his land.
"He put his head back and sniffed and listened to the silence. But was this silence? The very air vibrated with different sounds. The old stones gripping each other for foothold on the walls sang; the road under his feet trembled with the distant echo of marching feet; the cattle standing silhouetted in the field below him murmured with the knowledge of instinct, 'We're going to die. We're going to die'...
"This aloneness, this wildness, this closeness that gave off the feeling of never ending, eternity past and eternity to come'."
So yeah. I cried. I cried for all the lonely, unsure, dreamer boys sent to war. The ones who went in, knowing themselves enough to know that they were going to die. They remind me of my dad, and imagining my dad as a young man in a trench just breaks me.
Cookson, as usual, makes us feel multiple ambiguous feelings about the supposed villains in this story. Slater, while an absolute devil to Charlie, a blackmailer and a slimeball, is a tremendously great husband and father. He's demoted merely for wanting to be near his wife during her dangerous labour. His father, an asshat if there ever was one, maintains some goodness in his concern for his son. Betty betrays Charlie during his moment of greatest vulnerability, and the kinder Charlie is the more contempt she feels. We simply don't like Betty. Yet, Cookson reminds us that Betty has been treated like a workhorse her entire life, and her anger stems from her powerlessness in life. I think the only person we can all collectively dislike is his wife Victoria, although even then we can understand her need for a more sexually-interesting partner than Charlie Macfell. Cookson is not a black and white writer.
The romance fell flat. Nelly was incredibly unappealing. Desperate clinginess is not attractive to me, personally. In no way did I ever see any chemistry, and for the life of me I can't understand how Charlie fell in love with her. It was like a switch went off.
Would I reread? Probably not. There were beautiful moments in this, but the plot fell flat. There is some supposed redemption thing going on with the bullet in his heart valve, and Charlie's general analysing of what he did to Slater, but it was all so murky. I felt I missed something important, in the latter half of this book.
I should preface by saying that I've been reading way too much of her books to be fully objective, as my saturation point flooded a while back.
This book is worth reading for Charlie MacFell alone. The meek son dominated by powerful women is a repetitive character among Cookson's character stock, and watching them learn to assert themselves is often worth the book price. It is interesting then, that in the Cinder Path, Charlie Macfell asserts himself, but without the learning portion of it. War forces his hand. Much to everybody's surprise, he becomes a good soldier and leader. His natural, embedded cowardice is only eclipsed by his concern for others, and he is led by the stronger impulse. Which, basically, is to take care of his men. Charlie never learns confidence. He never learns bravery. He does good things because being good and kind are part of his makeup. He essentially remains the meek, dominated, unsure, ineffectual nice fool of a figure, and that's okay. He is what he is. Sometimes I get so sensitive in life, that even though I don't want to die, I wonder how I can live through it. My sister once described me as a kicked puppy who keeps going back for love but getting knocks instead, and never quite learning the lesson. Charlie Macfell is the exact same way. Life, and its people, hurt him, drain him, demand too much of him. But he tries and tries again. Cookson reminds us that these kind of people are a'ight, as is. We don't all need changing. We're not ineffectual when there are people who love us, as is.
Cookson doesn't have a lot of war stories, but this is one of her better ones. There is a scene where Charlie is on leave and is exploring his land.
"He put his head back and sniffed and listened to the silence. But was this silence? The very air vibrated with different sounds. The old stones gripping each other for foothold on the walls sang; the road under his feet trembled with the distant echo of marching feet; the cattle standing silhouetted in the field below him murmured with the knowledge of instinct, 'We're going to die. We're going to die'...
"This aloneness, this wildness, this closeness that gave off the feeling of never ending, eternity past and eternity to come'."
So yeah. I cried. I cried for all the lonely, unsure, dreamer boys sent to war. The ones who went in, knowing themselves enough to know that they were going to die. They remind me of my dad, and imagining my dad as a young man in a trench just breaks me.
Cookson, as usual, makes us feel multiple ambiguous feelings about the supposed villains in this story. Slater, while an absolute devil to Charlie, a blackmailer and a slimeball, is a tremendously great husband and father. He's demoted merely for wanting to be near his wife during her dangerous labour. His father, an asshat if there ever was one, maintains some goodness in his concern for his son. Betty betrays Charlie during his moment of greatest vulnerability, and the kinder Charlie is the more contempt she feels. We simply don't like Betty. Yet, Cookson reminds us that Betty has been treated like a workhorse her entire life, and her anger stems from her powerlessness in life. I think the only person we can all collectively dislike is his wife Victoria, although even then we can understand her need for a more sexually-interesting partner than Charlie Macfell. Cookson is not a black and white writer.
The romance fell flat. Nelly was incredibly unappealing. Desperate clinginess is not attractive to me, personally. In no way did I ever see any chemistry, and for the life of me I can't understand how Charlie fell in love with her. It was like a switch went off.
Would I reread? Probably not. There were beautiful moments in this, but the plot fell flat. There is some supposed redemption thing going on with the bullet in his heart valve, and Charlie's general analysing of what he did to Slater, but it was all so murky. I felt I missed something important, in the latter half of this book.
September 9, 2014
The downtrodden son of a farmer, married to one woman but in love with her sister, ships off to World War I in search of glory and redemption. On the front lines, he must battle not only the enemy but also the demons of self-doubt which have plagued him throughout his life.
This 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
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 Fifteen Streets
TR The Wingless Bird
TR The Silent Lady
This 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
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 Fifteen Streets
TR The Wingless Bird
TR The Silent Lady
January 10, 2018
Think I have read most of Catherine Cooksons books and I have enjoyed everyone that I have read. This one was no exception. Recommended.
November 13, 2020
This was a rather fitting read for this time of year, with part of the book set during World War I. I was rather pleased to find a Dickensian reference in The Cinder Path, and I have blogged about this already at https://deborahsiddoway.com/2020/11/0...
As this is the fourth Cookson novel that I have read, I am starting to see certain aspects of her writing that are troubling, particularly as regards the portrayal of the maternal relationship and the depiction of women generally. That said, in this particular novel, the central character is a male, and not a particularly likeable one at that. Not that there is anything to particularly dislike about him, it is just that, for the most part, he goes around his life letting things happen to him, rather than making any active choices. And when he does make an active choice it always seems to lead to disastrous consequences. There were so many times that I struggled to understand his motivation. A lot of what he did seemed to come back to his relationships with his parents, but not enough to make him any less insipid as a character.
I also struggled with the outcome of one of the characters in the book. The way that the workhouse boy, Ginger Slater, is portrayed, if nothing else, would lead to an interesting lesson in how important the narrative point of view is. The book is largely told from the point of view of Charlie McFell, who has an almost obsessional interest in Ginger, afraid of information Ginger acquired about him through no fault of his own. Ginger's fate is also shocking, and in many ways unfair. Such is the spinelessness of Charlie that you cannot help but cheer on Ginger, especially given he was denied every advantage lavished on Charlie, particularly an education. The 'inciting' incident at the beginning of the novel is Ginger being thrashed by Charlie's father. I do not think Ginger deserved his fate, and the book would have been better off being inverted - told from Ginger's viewpoint rather than Charlie's.
One of the strengths of the books was the depiction of the horrors of the war, while at the same time, writing of them as if they were just part of the everyday lives of the characters. In the days before Remembrance Day, where we focus on the horror of spilled blood, and sacrifice on the battle field, it was good to be reminded that behind all of these stories were the people up and down the country just getting on with their lives. There is no justice when there is a war going on. Maybe that is what I will take with me as I reflect on how this story played out.
As this is the fourth Cookson novel that I have read, I am starting to see certain aspects of her writing that are troubling, particularly as regards the portrayal of the maternal relationship and the depiction of women generally. That said, in this particular novel, the central character is a male, and not a particularly likeable one at that. Not that there is anything to particularly dislike about him, it is just that, for the most part, he goes around his life letting things happen to him, rather than making any active choices. And when he does make an active choice it always seems to lead to disastrous consequences. There were so many times that I struggled to understand his motivation. A lot of what he did seemed to come back to his relationships with his parents, but not enough to make him any less insipid as a character.
I also struggled with the outcome of one of the characters in the book. The way that the workhouse boy, Ginger Slater, is portrayed, if nothing else, would lead to an interesting lesson in how important the narrative point of view is. The book is largely told from the point of view of Charlie McFell, who has an almost obsessional interest in Ginger, afraid of information Ginger acquired about him through no fault of his own. Ginger's fate is also shocking, and in many ways unfair. Such is the spinelessness of Charlie that you cannot help but cheer on Ginger, especially given he was denied every advantage lavished on Charlie, particularly an education. The 'inciting' incident at the beginning of the novel is Ginger being thrashed by Charlie's father. I do not think Ginger deserved his fate, and the book would have been better off being inverted - told from Ginger's viewpoint rather than Charlie's.
One of the strengths of the books was the depiction of the horrors of the war, while at the same time, writing of them as if they were just part of the everyday lives of the characters. In the days before Remembrance Day, where we focus on the horror of spilled blood, and sacrifice on the battle field, it was good to be reminded that behind all of these stories were the people up and down the country just getting on with their lives. There is no justice when there is a war going on. Maybe that is what I will take with me as I reflect on how this story played out.
August 28, 2021
Shamefully, I had been given this book almost two decades ago and only now I finally decided to read it. I was saving it for those days when I'd "have nothing else to read" but a reading challenge made me pick it up.
The plot is quite interesting, especially due to all the subtle hints the author inserts here and there, the critic of several things and the more obvious opinions on subjects such as war, arrogance, privilege, expectations... the content I liked, yes, but the writing was another issue. I know this was written in the 70s and the author wanted to be realistic with the way the characters might have talked, but some passages weren't as easy for me (English isn't my mother language).
Still, that aside, I'd say what disappointed me the most were the characters themselves. I feel their development wasn't as exciting as it could be and Charlie, the hero, certainly seemed to not evolve as much as he should? I just feel the characters weren't fleshed out well enough... therefore, the book isn't bad, but I don't see myself re-reading any part of it.
The plot is quite interesting, especially due to all the subtle hints the author inserts here and there, the critic of several things and the more obvious opinions on subjects such as war, arrogance, privilege, expectations... the content I liked, yes, but the writing was another issue. I know this was written in the 70s and the author wanted to be realistic with the way the characters might have talked, but some passages weren't as easy for me (English isn't my mother language).
Still, that aside, I'd say what disappointed me the most were the characters themselves. I feel their development wasn't as exciting as it could be and Charlie, the hero, certainly seemed to not evolve as much as he should? I just feel the characters weren't fleshed out well enough... therefore, the book isn't bad, but I don't see myself re-reading any part of it.
January 26, 2010
Very unlikeable characters. The main man, Charlie is a wimp, fool, and sissy. The sisters torn apart over him are Victoria, a mega you know what and Nellie, an alcoholic. This so badly lacks Cookson's usual flair.
July 28, 2014
This is one of my all time favorites that I read when I was in my early twenties.
May 26, 2014
Like Thomas Hardy C. Cookson recognizes the inevitability of fate
February 29, 2016
Love this book!
April 7, 2025
2.75 stars
It’s well written and intriguing, and the overarching plot is one of character development, which I like. On the other hand, a lot of the characters weren’t great people, which made it hard to root for them. Even the main character wasn’t very likeable (that was kind of the point, but it doesn’t help when everybody else also sucks). I just didn’t really root for the main relationship cause neither partner was a good or likeable person.
It’s well written and intriguing, and the overarching plot is one of character development, which I like. On the other hand, a lot of the characters weren’t great people, which made it hard to root for them. Even the main character wasn’t very likeable (that was kind of the point, but it doesn’t help when everybody else also sucks). I just didn’t really root for the main relationship cause neither partner was a good or likeable person.
October 10, 2024
I was looking for a period drama, and stumbled upon this lesser known novel. I enjoyed it overall, but there were some seriously sad moments and frustrating characters, which is why it earned a 3. I loved the ending, though, but just wish there was more justice for the main character against some of the evil done toward him. That’s just a personal preference though!
April 19, 2022
I read this as a young teen. I think I learned social history from Catherine Cookson & her descriptions of poverty as much as the school text books. The fiction brought the fact to life using unchallenging language.
February 5, 2020
Downtrodden son , married to one but loves her sister
WW1
Charlie has to find himself
WW1
Charlie has to find himself
February 13, 2020
This author, Katherine Cookson, always brings me the best of our world without technology. She examines love, war, heartbreak, loss and a very happy ending in this book. Onto my next adventure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2021
WWI historical view of tough times, mistreatment, and family conflict.
October 2, 2021
Couldn't get into this at all
December 21, 2021
Yes, I enjoyed this for the period. This might be my lot for awhile.
August 3, 2025
One of my all time favourite authors and this book did not disappoint
November 13, 2016
Predictable one night read...
July 17, 2016
"The Cinder Path" is a family saga in the truest sense of the word, perfectly illustrating how the actions and decisions of one generation have effects that echo for generations to come.
The book begins when the McFell patriarch, on an impulse to get out of the hat-making and -selling business and having come into money after his recent marriage, buys a farm with substantial lands. Trouble is, he's never farmed. Another difficulty is that he spends the rest of his life trying to make himself look bigger in everyone else's eyes--family, servants, farmers from surrounding farms, and merchants. All to no avail: He dies a tyrant, hated, scorned, and feared, but not respected.
The second generation builds on this foundation, adding to it the habit of the parents choosing favorites among their two children so that the house, while following the patriarchal lead on the surface, is really a roiling mass of hidden distrust, contempt, and jealousy.
Now enter the third generation of McFells: the eldest son, Charlie, and his younger sister, Betty. Charlie, quiet and gentle, is the favorite of his mother, who seems to be quiet, too, deferring to her husband. The daughter, by contrast, is hard and cold like her father. But being a patriarchal family, the father must invest energy in his son's development. Unfortunately, as the generations have passed, the temper of the patriarch has seemingly multiplied in atrocity. The farm boasts a path that leads from the main house down to the cottages. It has been built up for at least two hundred years by maids throwing the ashes from the house fireplaces onto it. This cinder path is a favorite tool of Charlie's father, who dispenses whippings to servants and sons alike while making them stand on the path. The sharp ashes are, according to the man's thinking, a perfect way to add even more pain to his punishments when the hapless recipient falls onto them and cuts knees, hands, etc.
Charlie's father thinks his son is too dreamy, too feminine, and he decides that he needs to give the boy an education on what goes on between a man and a woman. Charlie has grown up with Polly, the daughter of one of the kitchen staff who also happens to be the patriarch's mistress. So the patriarch arranges for young Polly to give Charlie his first lesson. Both children--for that's what they are, neighter being beyond 15 years old--are horrified, as is young Polly's older brother, Arthur.
When children feel overwhelmed by events set in motion by the adults around them, it's natural for them to try to take matters into their own hands. In this case, Arthur "accidentally" kills Charlie's father. Charlie sees it happen and endeavors to cover it up to protect young Polly's family (as he has been in love with her, albeit secretly).
But of course, there's a catch, in the person of Sidney "Ginger" Slater, a boy who has served on the McFell farm all his life. He has no parents, and has been the frequent recipient of punishments on the cinder path. He knows what Arthur and Charlie have done, and he uses this knowledge to blackmail them. Charlie is now master of the farm, while his supposedly quiet mother goes on a spending spree that lasts the rest of her life, and Betty becomes even more angry and hard and bitter.
Charlie tries to manage the farm, leaving behind his beloved education and books. But time and again, unable or unwilling to speak up for what he truly wants and feeling as if everything has already been determined for him, he is coerced into a marriage that looks ideal on paper but is a disaster from start to finish. He is conscripted in 1916, and rather than stating he is a farmer and therefore exempt from serving, he uses the army as his one chance to escape the misery of his life.
What he doesn't realize is that Slater is waiting for him again, and his misery is only compounded.
Cookson's prose is flowery and dripping with clichés. The book took a long time laying its foundations. But once Charlie gets into the army, it moves along briskly and draws to a satisfying conclusion. Perhaps this was my "beach read" of 2016, as the romantic element was fairly strong as well.
Ah, a girl can indulge in such things occasionally ...
The book begins when the McFell patriarch, on an impulse to get out of the hat-making and -selling business and having come into money after his recent marriage, buys a farm with substantial lands. Trouble is, he's never farmed. Another difficulty is that he spends the rest of his life trying to make himself look bigger in everyone else's eyes--family, servants, farmers from surrounding farms, and merchants. All to no avail: He dies a tyrant, hated, scorned, and feared, but not respected.
The second generation builds on this foundation, adding to it the habit of the parents choosing favorites among their two children so that the house, while following the patriarchal lead on the surface, is really a roiling mass of hidden distrust, contempt, and jealousy.
Now enter the third generation of McFells: the eldest son, Charlie, and his younger sister, Betty. Charlie, quiet and gentle, is the favorite of his mother, who seems to be quiet, too, deferring to her husband. The daughter, by contrast, is hard and cold like her father. But being a patriarchal family, the father must invest energy in his son's development. Unfortunately, as the generations have passed, the temper of the patriarch has seemingly multiplied in atrocity. The farm boasts a path that leads from the main house down to the cottages. It has been built up for at least two hundred years by maids throwing the ashes from the house fireplaces onto it. This cinder path is a favorite tool of Charlie's father, who dispenses whippings to servants and sons alike while making them stand on the path. The sharp ashes are, according to the man's thinking, a perfect way to add even more pain to his punishments when the hapless recipient falls onto them and cuts knees, hands, etc.
Charlie's father thinks his son is too dreamy, too feminine, and he decides that he needs to give the boy an education on what goes on between a man and a woman. Charlie has grown up with Polly, the daughter of one of the kitchen staff who also happens to be the patriarch's mistress. So the patriarch arranges for young Polly to give Charlie his first lesson. Both children--for that's what they are, neighter being beyond 15 years old--are horrified, as is young Polly's older brother, Arthur.
When children feel overwhelmed by events set in motion by the adults around them, it's natural for them to try to take matters into their own hands. In this case, Arthur "accidentally" kills Charlie's father. Charlie sees it happen and endeavors to cover it up to protect young Polly's family (as he has been in love with her, albeit secretly).
But of course, there's a catch, in the person of Sidney "Ginger" Slater, a boy who has served on the McFell farm all his life. He has no parents, and has been the frequent recipient of punishments on the cinder path. He knows what Arthur and Charlie have done, and he uses this knowledge to blackmail them. Charlie is now master of the farm, while his supposedly quiet mother goes on a spending spree that lasts the rest of her life, and Betty becomes even more angry and hard and bitter.
Charlie tries to manage the farm, leaving behind his beloved education and books. But time and again, unable or unwilling to speak up for what he truly wants and feeling as if everything has already been determined for him, he is coerced into a marriage that looks ideal on paper but is a disaster from start to finish. He is conscripted in 1916, and rather than stating he is a farmer and therefore exempt from serving, he uses the army as his one chance to escape the misery of his life.
What he doesn't realize is that Slater is waiting for him again, and his misery is only compounded.
Cookson's prose is flowery and dripping with clichés. The book took a long time laying its foundations. But once Charlie gets into the army, it moves along briskly and draws to a satisfying conclusion. Perhaps this was my "beach read" of 2016, as the romantic element was fairly strong as well.
Ah, a girl can indulge in such things occasionally ...
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.
February 13, 2013
I think this must be one of her best. I especially liked the way she dealt with the Great War and its aftermath. The chapters where Charlie is in hospital and as well as his shrapnel injuries is suffering with the effect of battle Fatigue (or perhaps we would call it Post Traumatic Strees) were exceptionally vivid. Her characters are solidly built and believable.
June 15, 2020
The first story I read from a man's perspective in this genre of historical romantic fiction. A really good solid tale with her usual flair, grittiness and historical social depiction of everyday lives.
May 23, 2017
Story of charlie, a farm guy, with a tyrannical father. He falls for Nellie though marries her sister, unable to take a stand. Fights in world war while his wife cheats on him. Finally finds peace with Nellie and comes back to his farm to live a life of peace.
May 26, 2016
It was a gripping story of mistreatment towards people in many different ways. Setting well formed, and the WWI parts enlightening. The main character became more appealing as the story developed. An enjoyable read—couldn't wait to find out how it ended.
October 19, 2011
Another good Cookson family saga.
April 9, 2012
most of cathrine cooksons are great always been a fave of mine since nine the ones i dont like are more to do with the story rather than her style .
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews