The Harrogate Secret Author:Catherine Cookson The Harrogate Secret is a tour de force of historical imagination,a book that brings together all the elements that have made Catherine Cookson such a popular story-teller: an enthralling plot, thick with the intertwining stories of richly drawn characters; a brilliantly detailed portrait of the oppression of the poor by those who reaped the re... more »wards of the British Empire; and the masterly re-creation of everyday historical detail. But most of all, as readers of The Bannamon Legacy, the Parson's Daughter and other best sellers well know, Catherine Cookson has a gift for romance that is unequaled. And here, with the story of Freddie Musgrove, who must rescue the love of his life not once but twice from the malignant forces of The Towers, her gift has neveer been more in evidence.
Born into grinding poverty, ten-year-old Freddie Musgrove spent his chilhood living by his wits. The shillings he picked up running messages and smuggled goods past the ever-watchful eyes of the customs agents helped to feed his family. But one night a mission took the small runner to the great house at The Towers, where madness had been known to lurk, and there he witnessed a scene of unremitting horror. His silence was bought and the tide of his life shifted. But years later the madness at The Towers again threatens, and Freddie must once more rescue his hard-won happiness and security from cruel fate.
Cathheinn Cookson is at the top of her form as she returns to the coal-mining and ship-building town of Tyneside in her native Northumberland. Her stories offer a truly remarkable portrait of nineteenth-century England.« less