The Girl

by Catherine Cookson

Her name was Hannah Boyle, but to the people of the village she would always be “The Girl” – Matthew Thornton’s bastard.

Savagely treated by Matthew’s wife, Anne, she fled for protection to the devil-may-care horse-dealer, Ned Ridley, who had earlier befriended her. But, as the waif grew to beautiful womanhood, she became an object of desire to the local young men, and even to her half-brother.

Against her wishes, she was married off to a gross, sensual man, but Hannah kept on fighting for the man she wanted: Ned Ridley, who adored her and taught her the meaning of true love and passion...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Historical, Historical Romance, Abuse, Friends To Lovers

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

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

[Tara Chevrestt]

As my title states, the heroine of this novel, Hannah, doesn't hold a candle to Cookson's previous heroine, Tilly Trotter, but it was a good story anyways. Hannah is introduced to a man named Matthew at the age of eight and told that he is her father. Immediately after being handed into his care, much to his wife's dismay, Hannah's biological mother dies. Hannah then proceeds to grow up in a household fraught with tension and hate.. mostly coming from her stepmother and one sibling. Thankfully, there is boarding school and off she goes. Upon finishing school, however, her father dies as a result of a scandalous situation. Now left in her vindictive stepmother's care, Hannah has only two choices: Marry the local butcher or hit the streets. What Hannah doesn't know is that there is another option in the form of Ned, who has loved her since she was a child.

She marries Fred and I must say, never gives him a fair chance. Throughout her entire marriage, she decides (finally!!) that she wants to be with Ned and despite the vows she exchanged with Fred, she sees Ned on the sly. Obviously, Hannah is not always a likeable character nor easy to sympathize over. I did, however, like all the scandal and there was quite a bit keeping me on the edge of my seat. The only thing keeping me from enjoying this to a 5 star fullest is how spineless Hannah is in the first three fourths of the novel. Only in the end, does this gal show some real spunk and what a surprise she pulls out of her apron! Had she been so ballsy in the first few parts, I would have enjoyed it more.

[Katarina]

Ljubići su generičke fabule, pročitaš jedan, pročitao si ih sve. Zaboraviću i to malo traljave razrade u ovom "romanu" čim ovde stavim tačku na poslednju rečenicu. Jedino što ću svakako zapamtiti jeste da su svi likovi iritantni, najiritantnija skupina nikogovića na koju sam u nekoj treš knjizi naišla. Da situacija bude gora, nije bilo ni mačke ni kera prema kom bi neko od dotičnih ispoljio minimum ljudskosti.

Nije jadna Hana, jadna sam ja. No, znala sam, donekle, čega se hvatam..

Treš naš nasušni daj nam danas i sav taj džez.. Kako drugačije da preživimo ovaj haos, košenje trave s Ljevinom ostavljam za kasnije dane izolacije.. Negde oko četrdesetog dana ću naoštriti kosu. Valjda..

Izvini Lave,
Čekaj me, i ja ću sigurno doći..

[Laura]

Oh my goodness. This book was amazing. The story begins with a young Hannah Boyle who is dropped off by her dying mother to her her wealthy father's house. Basically, she's a bastard child and her father's wife loathes her and savagely beats her. She finds a sanctuary of sorts with Ned Ridley, a horse dealer. (WHO IS TOTALLY SWOON WORTH IN THE MOVIE, OMG. JONATHAN CAKE, I LOVE YOU SEXY BISH. YOU SHOULD PLAY A ROMAN SOLDIER.) ANYWAYS, basically Hannah's father dies and ends up having to marry this horrid man, a nasty man really, thanks to her father's wife. Basically it's about Hannah learning to be free and standing up for herself. Oh and of course, overcoming the odds against her!

[Velvetink]

4 stars for the movie. Drama set in North East England in the 1860s about Hannah Boyle, an illegitimate girl who is taken in by her father to be raised with his other children, much to the horror of his wife.With Jonathan Cake (Actor), and a strong female lead by Siobhan Flynn (Actor).

[Louise]

Love Catherine Cookson books :) One of my Favourite Catherine Cookson's. Amazing characters and such a brilliant story. 5/5 + Ned <3

[Liliflaj]

Ozbiljna knjiga; toplo preporucujem

[Shirley Revill]

I read this book some time ago and it's still one of my favourites.
Life was harsh in the past and to have an illegitimate child was a great sin.
I needed tissues when I was reading this book.
Storytelling at it's best.

[Elodie]

Fabulous read and four stars all the way.

[Aušrinė Žvirblė]

Labai jaučiasi, kad knyga sena (ir dar veiksmas vyksta 19a.), tad sunkoka vertinti.
Buvo įdomių vietų, bet buvo ir neįtikinančių.

[Helen]

I read this book while staying with my grandma, aged 8!!

[Sara Ristović]

👉Ketrin Kukson- Devojka 👈

Hana Bojl je kao osmogodišnja devojčica ostavljena čoveku za koga je mislila da joj je otac. Ostavljena je kod Metju Torntona jer joj je majka bila na samrti. Metju,pored svoje četvoro dece,odlučuje da je zadrži i pruži joj obrazovanje i isti status kao i njegova deca. Ali En Tornton, njegova žena ne želi da je prihvati i svoj bes zbog neverstva njenog muža iskaljuje na njoj.
Kada je išibala Hanu,zbog navodne krađe njenog nakita,Hana beži kod Neda Ridlija,trgovca konjima, u Utvrđenu kuću na brdu...
Knjiga je podeljena u četiri dela i kroz ta četiri dela pratimo Hanino odrastanje i njen život.
Kada je Metju umro, En počinje da se sveti Hani na svaki mogući način sve dok je ne uda za lokalnog mesara Fred Loama. Na dan njenog venčanja počinje njen pakao od života.
Hoće li Hana prebroditi sve nedaće i izboriti se za svoju pravu ljubav?
Ovo je roman o ljubavi, o ponosu i istrajnosti jedne mlade žene. Njena borba za pravu ljubav. Čita se pitko i jednostavno ne možete da je ispustite iz ruku jer iz poglavlja u poglavlje priča Vas vuče sve dublje i dublje i tera Vas da nastavite dalje. Opisi su onako kako ja volim, ni premalo ni previše. Baš sam uživala 💞
Inače Ketrin je svoj prvi roman objavila 1950.godine i napisala je 104 knjige 😊
Nadam se da će biti još neki njen roman preveden kod nas. #preporuka

[Dee S]

Great life story book. Poor Hannah can’t seem to catch a break throughout her life. I did have to look up a LOT of words lol. I did find it hard to visualize a lot of the book. Idk if I didn’t know what the words meant or if there was lack of description. However, I did enjoy the story and I was happy to follow along in Hannah’s journey thru life

[N]

On one hand, this was a relatively quick read for me but aside from that ... this was not a fun read at all. The only reason I powered through this book was because I liked Hannah Boyle and just wanted her to be happy, especially when she has been really put through the ringer in this book (a trend I'm noticing with the few other Catherine Cookson titles I've picked up) and just forced to live with situations out of her control, e.g. living with abusive 'foster' stepmother and later an equally terrible/annoying mother-in-law .

It doesn't help that Hannah is also afflicted with being 'Too Beautiful For Her Own Good', similar to Tess from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles -- and much like Tess, poor Hannah spends half of this book just being hounded by all these men pursuing her because they want to possess her, and are just terrible people. Even her love interest Ned, who is supposed to be the 'decent' one out of the lot was just so weird about their relationship, and honestly not that much better than the other dipshits in this book. All it did was make me want to take her away and help her find happiness and peace elsewhere, and with other people who are worthy of her.

[Laura]

In mid-19th century Yorkshire, Hannah Boyle is left with the family of Matthew Thornton, the man her dying mother claims fathered her. Ill-treated by Thornton's bitter and vindictive wife Anne, who views Hannah only as evidence of her husband's infidelity, she is married off to the village butcher, whose waspish mother torments her further. But through her patience, intelligence and strength, she wins her freedom and the man she loves.

A movie was made based on this book and it is available at YouTube

[Penelope Marzec]

This novel is set in the mid-1800s, when women were little more than chattel. Hannah Boyle's dying mother thrusts her into Matthew Thornton's care. He believes he is her father and while he does right by her, his wife makes Hannah's life miserable. When he dies, Hannah's circumstances take a turn for the worse. Yet, she perseveres under appalling conditions for her heart holds onto hope. This well-told tale is highly recommended.

[Susan]

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!

[Vicky]

Watched the ITV mini-series when I was about 13 and loved it. The book is good and a fairly easy read. Ned Ridley is yummy!

[Bettie]

Bettie's Books

[Louise Baker]

One of my all time favourite classics that i can read and watch thousands of times over. So much love for Catherine Cookson novels.

[Deborah Siddoway]

This was a difficult book for me to read, given the central character is presented as the illegitimate offspring of a middle class, relatively well-off family man. This is my second foray into Catherine Cookson as I read my way through a compendium of her novels. I liked this one far less than The Mallen Streak, although it was still an entertaining and engaging read. I think, one of the reasons that I liked it far less, is that I am starting to see difficulties in the way that Cookson presents her female characters, and mindful of her own upbringing as it was presented in her biography, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that she was drawing on her own feelings and emotions of having grown up as somebody's flyblow, a word used often in this novel, rather than the over-sanitised lovechild descriptor that we fall back on in more progressive times.

There are many reasons to read this novel. You get a feel for what it was like to live in those times, how hard it was for women to make their way in the world. The use of regional language is very illuminating - and I came across phrases that echoed in my mind - taking a girl down (getting her pregnant without marriage first), the rather apt flyblow, liking a duckie, as well as words such as middens and huxter was like finding a treasure trove of the language of the North.

That said, the way in which all of the female characters are portrayed is somewhat problematic. Hannah Boyle is a girl you feel sorry for. Through no fault of her own she is foisted into the family life of her father, together with his wife who does not want her there, and her half-brothers and sisters. Mrs Thornton is portrayed in an entirely unsympathetic way, even though her humiliation and pain at being forced to live with this living and breathing evidence of her husband's infidelity in her home. Yet rather than make the choice of making her a real person who struggles to set aside her own feelings of betrayal and shame, her inability to accept Hannah as part of the family leads to Mrs Thornton being characterised as evil - an inhumane woman with no kindess in her heart.

Worse, as Hannah ages and makes increasingly poor decisions, the reader's sympathy for her starts to wane. It is almost as if Cookson finds adult females to be unlikable and struggles to write about them in a positive way.

Again, there is no way that this could be described as romantic novel, and Hannah does not fight for a romance with Ned. This is a bleak, dark novel, with pragmatism and gritty realism at the heart of it, and a recognition that humans are capable of great cruelty to each other, as well as kindness.

I am moving on to my third Cookson next. I am starting to get more of a feel for her narrative style and characterisation. It will be interesting to see what I make of it.

[Diane Wachter]

The Girl, Catherine Cookson, HB-B @ 1977, 1977. Eight year old Hannah Boyle and her mother, walked 23 miles so that Hannah could live with her father, whom she did not know. Her mother then gave a letter to the church for Hannah to be opened only upon her wedding day. Then her mother died, and Hannah was left with her father and her stepmother who would only refer to Hannah as "the girl". The letter nearly destroys Hannah. Very good.

[Kelly Popp]

I loved this book! Probably one of the most addicting and one of my favorites that I read in 2015! The story about a child growing up without her mother and how she is treated by the rest of the world because of where she comes from. It's a heartbreaking tale with a heartwarming ending. I definitely recommend this.

[Ellie Coleman]

I was hooked from the beginning! It was very action-packed and I felt for Hannah through the whole book, especially with who she married and her new mother-in-law. I was disappointed with her decision to cheat on her husband with Ned, whether she loved him or not, but other than that I enjoyed the story!

[Janet Richards]

I was obsessed with this book in high school - I must of read it 5 or more times. I really want to get my hands on it now 30+ years later and see what the big deal was.

I'm now about 1/3 through and I it's all coming back - the drama and sadness, and eventual triumph.

[Kate]

I absolutely love this book. It has become one of my favourites. Highly recommended, I just couldn't put it down! The ending felt a little rushed though, I felt more could happen and was surprised the ending seemed so abrupt and simple after all the drama over the preceding pages.

[Maudie]

Quick, interesting and downright enjoyable read...a read aloud treat with hubby back in the waning days of January when the ice still covered our sidewalks and there was no place to escape the cold except in the pages of a warm book.

[Maha Abou Jaoude]

" Femme, il l'avait appelée femme. La Fille avait disparu, engloutie dans les ombres du passé. Elle ne voulait plus jamais entendre ce nom. Elle était une femme, pour le meilleur et pour le pire. Quelles que soient les épreuves que l'avenir lui apporterait, elle les affronterait en femme. "

[Carmen]

Compulsively readable making alive the end of the last century.

[Lynn Smith]

I enjoyed this book very much at the time and has remained a keeper and favourite of hers. Set in the 1860s.

[Clare]

come on who doesn't love Ned !! read these books as a teenager, and have watched the TV series again recently, so thought I better re read the books again