Cobbler's Daughter

'Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals' Mail on Sunday'Her characters have the grit of real life' Sunday Times'Queen of raw family romances' TelegraphAfter making his money as a respected manufacturer of an array of shoes, Samuel Fairbrother decides to find a new home for his business and family. When a grand mansion becomes available Samuel buys it - and with it, inherits the servants.But when his butler, Maitland, makes it clear he prefers Samuel's predecessor, a conflict between the classes begins to emerge. Maitland, believes Samuel is nothing more than an upstart and because Samuel knows his well-educated but troublesome butler is indispensable - they reach a stalemate. Until Samuel's eldest daughter, Janet, tries to reconcile the impossible; but can she bring the uneasy truce to an end?From bestselling saga author Catherine Cookson, this forgotten classic captures the conflicts of class in the society of the late nineteenth century. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.Previously published as The Upstart.

Queen of raw family romances, Humour, toughness, resolution and generosity are Cookson virtues . . . In the specialised world of women's popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory, Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals

Catherine Cookson was born in Tyne Dock, the illegitimate daughter of a poverty-stricken woman, Kate, whom she believed to be her older sister. She 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 of contemporary women novelists. After receiving an OBE in 1985, Catherine Cookson was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993. She was appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1997. For many years she lived near Newcastle upon Tyne. She died shortly before her ninety-second birthday, in June 1998.