'Humour, toughness, resolution and generosity are Cookson virtues . . . In the specialised world of women's popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory.' - Helen Dunmore, The Times

Just two years after the death of their mother, Hector Stewart tells his children he plans to remarry and has chosen a distant relative from Ireland to be his bride. Money is tight and the only thing the children remember about Moira Connelly is that she lives in a castle; they suspect that her apparent wealth is the reason their father is so keen to remarry.

But Moira has also been far from forthcoming about her own circumstances - thinking she's about to marry into landed gentry, she expects a lifestyle to match this title. So when she arrives in rural Fellburn she is surprised to find a rundown farm as her new home...

Can a marriage based on deception survive?

Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels. If you like Dilly Court, Katie Flynn or Donna Douglas, you'll love Catherine Cookson.

Previously published as The Desert Crop

About the Author
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.

Reviews
Queen of raw family romances * Telegraph *
Humour, toughness, resolution and generosity are Cookson virtues . . . In the specialised world of women's popular fiction, Cookson has created her own territory * Helen Dunmore, The Times *
Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals * Mail on Sunday *



Book Information
ISBN 9780552177702
Author Catherine Cookson
Format Paperback
Page Count 512
Imprint Corgi Books
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 346g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 127mm * 30mm