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THE IRON FACADE.
Menestyskirjailija Prudence Dudley kaipaa elämäänsä muutosta ja päättää muuttaa Englannin järviseudulle. Raskaat lapsuuden kokemukset vainoavat häntä yhä, ja Prudence haluaa pyristellä niistä irti.Järviseudulla Prudence tutustuu paikalliseen David McVeighiin, joka on ärsyttävyydessään omaa luokkaansa. Pian Prudence kuitenkin ymmärtää, että Davidin ylimielisyys ja inhottavuus ovat vain julkisivua - ja mies kantaa mukanaan samanlaisia haavoja kuin hänkin.
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
28 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Cookson
501 books682 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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 18, 2018
I read this book some time ago and I really enjoyed the storyline. Recommended.
July 9, 2017
Whooee. I bought this at a thrift store for 25 cents expecting to swiftly re-donate it once I was done, but I am definitely going to keep it. It's a quick read, not overly original or interesting, entirely predictable, and I suppose this was Cookson's attempt to join the 70's bandwagon of 'gothic' style romances. Young woman and female acquaintance travel to a remote place, a rude man attempts to drive them away, the women unwittingly involve themselves into some mystery about the man's personal life, love story happens and they never leave. It's been done time and time again. The Iron Facade (ugh, what a bad title), however, includes a layer of Cookson realism and introspection to make this plot formula a bit more interesting. Granted, I read her books for her characters, not the plots.
Cookson had me HATING David McVeigh at the beginning. From the car incident to the drunken rhyme sung into the night. Ugh. I felt as hurt as Prudence did. But by revealing the theme of this book, she had me loving him. Fear. This was a man crippled by fear and covered up by an entirely different guise (i.e. the Iron Facade). She was also a woman bound by fears (via her lifelong depression, multiple abandonment's and the shock of her husband's secret) and therefore able to deal with him as no one can. Cookson dissected the concept of fear so uniquely in this book. She separates anxious fears (like Prudence's fear of people) to elemental fears that David was suffering with. David was a weak man, and the fact that Cookson could write this in a way where he was somehow more stronger because of it, shows her skill. She's not writing an ideal romantic figure for Prudence, she's writing a sympathetic partner who can read her on a uniquely intimate level. That scene in the rain and then later in the cottage, the emotional tension was so amazing.
I think Cookson slipped much of her real feelings into this book - you can understand the motivations of her other books in a way. Such as Fifteen Streets, when Prudence tells David how she envies the poverty-stricken people of Eastbourne because they had strong family ties and happy moments that she lacked in her own social strata. Cookson is always so good at writing about the small happiness's (amid big brutalities) existing in the working classes.
I loved the little poem she included- that David was trying to teach to Frannie.
Promise to look at a leaf on a tree,
Promise me, promise me.
Promise to stand and look out to the sea,
Promise me, promise me.
And at noon on the day look up to the sky,
And make it a habit. Try, Try.
But if you haven't a tree, or the sea, or sight,
What will you promise me?
To reach inside and find the spark
That started the tree, gave sight, and the sea, and
so say with me:
Buck up and be a rabbit.
Cookson had me HATING David McVeigh at the beginning. From the car incident to the drunken rhyme sung into the night. Ugh. I felt as hurt as Prudence did. But by revealing the theme of this book, she had me loving him. Fear. This was a man crippled by fear and covered up by an entirely different guise (i.e. the Iron Facade). She was also a woman bound by fears (via her lifelong depression, multiple abandonment's and the shock of her husband's secret) and therefore able to deal with him as no one can. Cookson dissected the concept of fear so uniquely in this book. She separates anxious fears (like Prudence's fear of people) to elemental fears that David was suffering with. David was a weak man, and the fact that Cookson could write this in a way where he was somehow more stronger because of it, shows her skill. She's not writing an ideal romantic figure for Prudence, she's writing a sympathetic partner who can read her on a uniquely intimate level. That scene in the rain and then later in the cottage, the emotional tension was so amazing.
I think Cookson slipped much of her real feelings into this book - you can understand the motivations of her other books in a way. Such as Fifteen Streets, when Prudence tells David how she envies the poverty-stricken people of Eastbourne because they had strong family ties and happy moments that she lacked in her own social strata. Cookson is always so good at writing about the small happiness's (amid big brutalities) existing in the working classes.
I loved the little poem she included- that David was trying to teach to Frannie.
Promise to look at a leaf on a tree,
Promise me, promise me.
Promise to stand and look out to the sea,
Promise me, promise me.
And at noon on the day look up to the sky,
And make it a habit. Try, Try.
But if you haven't a tree, or the sea, or sight,
What will you promise me?
To reach inside and find the spark
That started the tree, gave sight, and the sea, and
so say with me:
Buck up and be a rabbit.
February 2, 2010
This was orginally published under the title "Evil At Roger's Cross." Where they came up with that title for this book is beyond me. There is no great mystery or murder. The only mystery is why do all these people hate each other?
Prudence is suffering a nervous breakdown of some sort and her and her aunt rent a cottage in the country to relax. They couldn't have chose a worse place as the owners of the cottage and the farm nearby keep popping up with all their problems. They fight amongst themselves, keep secrets, swim naked. Add a very strange sixteen year old girl that acts like a six year old and that's the mystery. So much for getting away from it all and calming Prudence's nerves.
The last quarter of the book has a bunch of skeletons popping out of people's closets, but evil? Not quite.
Prudence is suffering a nervous breakdown of some sort and her and her aunt rent a cottage in the country to relax. They couldn't have chose a worse place as the owners of the cottage and the farm nearby keep popping up with all their problems. They fight amongst themselves, keep secrets, swim naked. Add a very strange sixteen year old girl that acts like a six year old and that's the mystery. So much for getting away from it all and calming Prudence's nerves.
The last quarter of the book has a bunch of skeletons popping out of people's closets, but evil? Not quite.
July 8, 2011
I've tried reading Catherine Cookson a bunch of times but always given up. I've no idea why becuase this is just my sort of book. Althought it was pretty easy to guess from the first time the characters interacted that they would be some sort of love story between Pru and Davie. I really liked how the story all came together and we were given the McVeigh's background in bits and peices. The only thing I didn't like is the ending. I expected love between Pru and Davie but not a marraige proposal. They've only known each other 3 months! And for aunt Maggie and her house keeper just being ready to uproot themselfs like that. But apart from that it was a really good read and am looking forward to the other cookson I've got on my tbr pile.
August 28, 2024
Suprise!!!
I have read almost everything by C. Cookston. First time did not care for this book. I felt it was like someone else wrote it. Oh well she was batting a 100.% .what's one that wasn't a hit for me.
I have read almost everything by C. Cookston. First time did not care for this book. I felt it was like someone else wrote it. Oh well she was batting a 100.% .what's one that wasn't a hit for me.
January 28, 2019
As always a good read!
I have read many Catherine Cookson books over the years with still a few to read.
I hope I can find them.
I have read many Catherine Cookson books over the years with still a few to read.
I hope I can find them.
April 4, 2019
It was an unexpected surprise of this book being agreeable to my mind's disposition.
February 29, 2024
This one did take a while to get into but the last couple of chapters I was hooked to the end.
July 8, 2025
A nice, cosy, heartwarming love story. A woman over ones her anxiety. And a happy ending is always good.
November 17, 2025
Typos, half-set characters, a back cover which has a blurb that feels unrelated to the actual story. Tedious.
December 30, 2018
Köykäiseksi jäi. Tarina pinnallinen ja epäuskottava.
December 25, 2015
It's been so long since I last read a sweet love novel ; what more one written by someone born more than 70 years before me. Indeed, I've always been a fan of peoples in the early 1990s. I imagine that time as a wonderful time, so much love, vast lands free of concrete, fresh air everywhere, thinking minds yet the least conflicts. The reality is probably 98% less than how I fancy it, then again, I don't care. It's the way I wish it to be at least. And it's written by one born more than 70 years before me.
Cookson wrote the iron facade so simply yet the story is drenched with complication. The main character Prudence Dudley is a woman of beauty, brains and a successful career as a novelist. She survived unhappy childhood with plenty of complicated, probably conflicting feelings for her parents who have been unfaithful to each other. Her marriage to Ian, a man she thought will bring her happiness and her sad life sunshine, failed too, just like the marriage of her parents.
In the company of her always protective Aunt Maggie, she flees to a rented cottage in the far off Lake District where she met David McVeigh. He happens to be the owner of the soothing albeit old cottage at the Lowtherbeck estate that Pru and Aunt Maggie rent for 3 months. So much drama took place in the few months of their stay in the estate. Most of the novel narrates all the intricacies and tension endured of the many interesting characters; ........(read the full review in my blog)
What I love best is how the love scene of Pru and Davie is only described and dramatized in the last two pages in the novel. Their love is so devoid of any kind of carnal desires and physical attraction, Instead, their embrace is fueled by emotional bond so vivid and beyond blissful. I love it.
Cookson wrote the iron facade so simply yet the story is drenched with complication. The main character Prudence Dudley is a woman of beauty, brains and a successful career as a novelist. She survived unhappy childhood with plenty of complicated, probably conflicting feelings for her parents who have been unfaithful to each other. Her marriage to Ian, a man she thought will bring her happiness and her sad life sunshine, failed too, just like the marriage of her parents.
In the company of her always protective Aunt Maggie, she flees to a rented cottage in the far off Lake District where she met David McVeigh. He happens to be the owner of the soothing albeit old cottage at the Lowtherbeck estate that Pru and Aunt Maggie rent for 3 months. So much drama took place in the few months of their stay in the estate. Most of the novel narrates all the intricacies and tension endured of the many interesting characters; ........(read the full review in my blog)
What I love best is how the love scene of Pru and Davie is only described and dramatized in the last two pages in the novel. Their love is so devoid of any kind of carnal desires and physical attraction, Instead, their embrace is fueled by emotional bond so vivid and beyond blissful. I love it.
November 26, 2022
I was introduced to Catherine Marchant aka Catherine Cookson age 13 via school library book club catalogue. Set in the 1950s one woman recovering from a nervous breakdown and her aunt travelling to the North East and a man suffering from what we now refer to as PTSD from his time fighting in the Korean War.
Synopsis:
An intense emotional conflict plunges successful novelist Prudence Dudley into a near collapse and she goes to recuperate in a cottage in the Lake District. There she meets hostile and arrogant Davie McVeigh and gets drawn into his turbulent past, discovering that it was as unhappy as her own.
I Loved this story, set in the 1960s, of Prudence recovering from a nervous breakdown after the break down of her marriage due to it being bigamous and her repressible Aunt Maggie and the dysfunctional McVeighs. This was not only my First book that I ordered from the school library book club, it was also my first introduction to Catherine Cookson; albeit under the pseudonym of Catherine Marchant. My only wish was that the story was longer in length to do more justice to it. I would have wished to have the relationship between Pru and Davie stretch out a little further.
Synopsis:
An intense emotional conflict plunges successful novelist Prudence Dudley into a near collapse and she goes to recuperate in a cottage in the Lake District. There she meets hostile and arrogant Davie McVeigh and gets drawn into his turbulent past, discovering that it was as unhappy as her own.
I Loved this story, set in the 1960s, of Prudence recovering from a nervous breakdown after the break down of her marriage due to it being bigamous and her repressible Aunt Maggie and the dysfunctional McVeighs. This was not only my First book that I ordered from the school library book club, it was also my first introduction to Catherine Cookson; albeit under the pseudonym of Catherine Marchant. My only wish was that the story was longer in length to do more justice to it. I would have wished to have the relationship between Pru and Davie stretch out a little further.
January 24, 2017
Pru has been tossed about in life. Her Aunt Maggie had taken her in and they are on their way for a holiday in the Lake District. They have taken a 3 month lease on a lakeside cottage, a lovely place until they be come involved with the goings on at the big house. Pru senses a mystery and an idea for her next book. She has come here to get her life back and in doing so has also helped her landlord get his life back. This was an okay story, I enjoyed it but definitely not her best work.
July 26, 2009
Back Cover Blurb:
An intense emotional conflict plunges successful novelist Prudence Dudley into a near collapse and she goes to recuperate in a cottage in the Lake District. There she meets hostile and arrogant Davie McVeigh and gets drawn into his turbulent past, discovering that it was as unhappy as her own.
An intense emotional conflict plunges successful novelist Prudence Dudley into a near collapse and she goes to recuperate in a cottage in the Lake District. There she meets hostile and arrogant Davie McVeigh and gets drawn into his turbulent past, discovering that it was as unhappy as her own.
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.
May 22, 2012
I really enjoyed this tale. I first stumbled across it when I was a teenager and still re-read the old copy now. There is a lot of angst and tension but I think it works well.
July 22, 2016
This was my first Cookson book and I was expecting it to be cheesy, soppy and overly simple. It wasn't any of those and I loved it.
September 16, 2024
Just read again after three years and it's still a five star read.
February 21, 2023
Read it through in one go. Sometimes you just have to. Can't remember it now though, may get around to reading again at some point, but so many books, so little time.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews