First US hardcover publication of the late Dame Cookson’s first novel.
The notorious slums of Tyneside in the early 1900s are not easy to escape, but young Kate Hannigan dreams of doing just that. Her gentle beauty and her spirit are much admired by the son of the upper-class family for whom she works, but a brief and ill-fated dalliance results in a pregnancy of which he knows nothing. Nine months later, Kate tries desperately to give birth, attended by drunken midwife Dorrie. As the story opens, the midwife is ordered away by Rodney Prince, an idealistic doctor who struggles to save Kate and her unborn child (this strong and beautifully written scene was considered scandalously graphic in 1950, when the book was first published). Thereafter, Dr. Prince takes a gossip-friendly interest in little Annie and her mother Kate, who then goes into service for a kindly family. The Tolemaches, an elderly sister and two brothers, are unexpectedly generous to both baby and mother (whose fine new clothes cause still more malicious gossip), and, more importantly, they provide an education for Kate. Her weak-willed mother Sarah is secretly proud, but Tim Hannigan, Sarah’s brutish husband, is not. He’s convinced that Kate is not his, and indeed his wife has never come clean with the truth. Dr. Prince, a passionate man enmeshed in a battle of wills with Stella, his icy, controlling wife, inevitably falls in love with Kate, but his noble nature keeps him from revealing his true feelings. Yet Stella, a would-be poet who lords over her own literary soirees, will not give him a divorce. Kate soldiers on as the years go by, driven almost mad by poverty and Tim Hannigan’s vicious beatings. As WWI looms over Europe, Dr. Prince vows his love—and when he returns, badly wounded, their hidden love blossoms at last.
Employing the melodramatic clichés we’ve come to expect after 90 bestsellers, Cookson (1907–98) was a natural successor to the great English writers of the Romantic era. Vivid, emotionally stirring: one of her best.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7432-3773-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2003
Categories: HISTORICAL FICTION | ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
222
GET IT
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Categories: GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
