Mary Ann Omnibus

by Catherine Cookson

Volume 2 opens with a seventeen-year-old Mary Ann struggling with the painful business of growing up as her first love, Corny Boyle, leaves for America. It follows her through her eventual marriage to Corny, and the joys and trials of being a wife, and a mother to six-year-old twins, Rose Mary and David.

930 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1986

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novel is so/so.. Such a young heroine takes some getting used to. She is only eight in the first three novels. I found the second and third novels highly entertaining and fourth was great. Once you get use to an eight year old main character, the going is pretty good. Mary Ann deals with friends, enemies, street fights, overstrict nuns, gets her dad a job, tries to keep him from the bottle, wishes her granny dead most of the time (and one really can't blame her!), and in between bouts of "misbehaving" confesses her sins to her beloved Father Owen. If you can get your hands on this rare book, it is worth it. Much laughs.

[Cheryll · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Catherine Cookson's best! I loved every chapter, every page, every word! Mary Ann made me laugh, cry and get angry! All the characters were great. An amazing story - I didn't want it to finish.

[Ellen Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to get into as used to my chick lit books but enjoyed it in the end

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The purity of Mary Ann's to love to who all she loved just broke ma heart. And somehow, somewhere me and Mary Ann became one. Her tears became mine too wetting the words in the book as if to comfort them. Her happiness became mine and I could actually feel the zephyr in ma heart each time she smiled. And sometimes, the utter despair and hopelessness killed me and ma soul followed Mary Ann desperately for a way out of it. There were times when I gripped the book tightly for fear of Mary Ann. Her troubles, their solutions, her determination and even her love was beyond her age.

The Irish English was a bit difficult for me. But once I started reading, they all fell into places. It was also difficult to get used to such a young heroine of eight years old and her thoughts. The little complex life of Mary Ann captures everyone's heart. The characters are very vibrant and distinct.I loved everything about this book. The sudden ups and downs, the extreme happiness and the sudden deep plunge into the valley of despair,the thin streak of hope that follows it, the characters with pathetic cruelty, the farm,the village and the convent setting, the characters who are the epitomes of pure unconditional ageless love...they all make this book worth reading a thousand times.