Corgi book Her Secret Son Cookson Catherine

When Ellen Jebeau’s husband dies in 1926, he leaves behind a legacy of debt and empty dreams • However, Ellen is determined that her son Joseph should have everything in life that she never did, and will stop at nothing to give it to him • Ellen and Joseph soon find themselves in a convenient arrangement with Ellen’s brother-in-law, Sir Arthur, living on the family estate, an arrangement which quickly comes to work in conniving Ellen’s favour… • But over the course of the next twenty years, as destinies intertwine, can Joseph Jebeau escape the clutches of his mother’s ruthless ambition, and emerge from the shadows of his heritage as the man he truly wants to be? • Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels

County Durham, 1830s • When fifteen-year-old Cissie Brodie loses her parents to cholera, she is forced out of the family cottage and left to raise her nine brothers and sisters by herself. Although desperately poor, strong-willed Cissie determines to build a new home for them all, their own little shelter to keep them from the workhouse • They have friends, but charity cannot always spare them the harsh reality of their struggle and when Cissie attracts the unwanted attentions of a local landowner, her world seems close to collapse • Can love, when it arrives, teach her not to fear the world beyond the dwelling place? • 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

When Millie's mother abandons her one late afternoon in 1854, fate brings the seven-year-old to Aggie's door - and life will never be the same for either of them • Known locally as 'Raggie Aggie' for her business of trading rags and old clothes, the older woman knows the dangers waiting for such a strikingly pretty girl left alone in their rough area of Newcastle, and sees no other option but to take her in • The unlikely pair soon form an unexpectedly strong bond. But there will be obstacles in their paths - will their friendship survive? Whatever happens, their relationship will change their lives for ever • 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

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

The woman who presented herself at the offices of the respectable firm of London solicitors was, the receptionist decided, clearly a vagrant who had been sleeping on the streets. The clothes that hung on her frail body were filthy, and she seemed unable to speak. When she asked to see the firm's senior partner, Alexander Armstrong, she was at first shown the door - but when Mr Armstrong learned the name of his visitor, all the office staff were amazed at his reaction. For Irene Baindor was a woman with a past, and her emergence from obscurity was to signal the unravelling of a mystery that had baffled the lawyer for twenty-six years • What Irene - the silent lady of the title - had been doing, and where she had been, gradually emerged over the following weeks as Armstrong met the unlikely benefactors who had befriended her and helped her to build a useful and satisfying life in a sheltered environment

Bolton, Lancashire: 1940 • A family torn apart by war, held together by a secret • Janie and her husband James have a strong, loving marriage. A move from an inner-city slum to a peaceful new estate outside of Bolton should have been a fresh start for them and their three children. But when war is declared and James announces he has signed up, Janie fears it's the beginning of the end • Waving goodbye to their menfolk is a sacrifice that families are making all over the country and Janie does her best to make do, forging friendships in her new community • But when James comes home on leave a traumatised and desperate man, then goes AWOL, Janie's heart goes out to him. Determined to keep him safe, she plans to hide him in their new house. But how long can they keep the secret, and what threats lie ahead if they're found out? • A page-turning new wartime saga about love, friendship and secrets, for fans of Katie Flynn and Rosie Goodwin

Cumbria, 1870s • Just before her fifteenth birthday Jinnie Howlett is offered a position as maid-of-all-work at a farm near the Cumbrian border. She hopes this will be a welcome relief from the workhouse she knows too well • But when she meets her brutish employers Jinnie realises she has only exchanged one life of drudgery for another. She is grateful when one of the sons befriends her, but it isn't long before Jennie sees how tempting life is beyond her place of work • 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

County Durham, 1860s • Born to a family of wealthy glassmakers, Annabella Legrange leads a charmed life, shielded from the struggles of the lower classes. But when she is eighteen she learns the truth of her birth and her whole world is shattered… • Forced to flee and leave behind everything she has ever known, she seeks to find a new life among the working classes where she hopes to forget the troubles of her past. She soon finds that moving on is harder than it looks and that there doesn't seem to be place for her in either society • 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 • Originally published as The Glass Virgin

Steven Lamb is 12 when he writes his first letter . . . to a serial killer • Every day after school, whilst his classmates swap football stickers, twelve-year-old Steven digs holes on Exmoor, hoping to find a body. His uncle disappeared aged eleven and is assumed to have fallen victim to the notorious serial killer Arnold Avery - but his body has never been found • Steven's Nan does not believe her son is dead. She still waits for him to come home, standing bitter guard at the front window while her family fragments around her. Steven is determined to heal the widening cracks between them before it's too late - even if that means presenting his grandmother with the bones of her murdered son • But when Steven realises this is an impossible task, he crafts a careful letter to Arnold Avery in prison

'The police belonged to another world - the world they saw on the television or in the papers. Not theirs.' • When two eighteen-year-old girls go missing on their gap year in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft and frantic with worry • Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth - and this time is no exception. But she can't help but think of her own son, who she hasn't seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling. This time it's personal • And as the case of the missing girls unfolds, they will all find that even this far away, danger can lie closer to home than you might think

Born into poverty, Katie Mulholland is forced to find work as a maid in the house of a wealthy family. But the beautiful young girl captures the eye of her employer’s evil son, who rapes her and leaves her pregnant • Out for themselves, the family forces her to marry the cruel manager of their mines. But Katie’s fate changes course when one man offers her the opportunity to make her own fortune, and to discover real love • Spanning Katie’s life from 1860 to the height of the Second World War, this is a timeless tale of one woman's fight for the happy ending she deserves • 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

Born into grinding poverty, young Freddie Musgrave relies on his wits to survive and help feed his family. He earns a few shillings by navigating his little boat across the swift-flowing waters of the Tyne, running messages and smuggling goods between the busy seaports on either side of the river and evading the customs agents • Luck is on his side . . . until the night he witnesses something truly horrific. In a supremely brave act he saves a life – and changes his own forever • Gaining the patronage of Maggie Hewitt, a sea captain’s daughter, Freddie is able to shape a future he can be proud of. But the threats of the past won’t stay buried and the dark events of that distant night have cast a long and dangerous shadow… • Catherine Cookson was the original and bestselling saga writer, selling over 100 million copies of her novels