Episode 2 - Catherine Cookson

Survivor:  Catherine Cookson overcame poverty-stricken beginnings in the north east to become one of the most successful novelists of all time, selling over 100 million copies in her lifetime whilst being the 20th century's most popularly borrowed author from UK libraries.  Catherine suffered many misfortunes in her life, but prevailed in spite of them.  Her legacy continues to this day.  She wrote over 100 novels and donated over £50 million in her lifetime to the north east, after a 50 year absence.  Her own story is as compelling and fascinating as any of the stories she wrote.  

"I can and I will has always been my motto."   (Catherine Cookson).

More information on Catherine Cookson's life is available from the following sources:

Autobiographies by Catherine Cookson: Our Kate; My Land of the North (Memories of a Northern Childhood); and Before I Go.

Poetry by Catherine Cookson:  Let Me Make Myself Plain; Plainer Still; Just a Saying.

Biographies:  Catherine Cookson the biography by Kathleen Jones; and The Girl From Leam Lane (the life and writing of Catherine Cookson) by Piers Dudgeon.