Seeking Catherine Cookson's Da: The Real Story of Finding her Father - Hardcover

This is a real life detective story, tracking down the missing father of one of Britain's most famous authors - the father she didn't want anyone to know about! Best selling author Catherine Cookson created a profoundly affecting literature out of the personal tragedies of her working class upbringing and early life in the industrial North East. Her biographer gives this account of her search to discover the truth of Cookson's childhood and the mystery of her father's identity. As the story unfolds, the reader is led to a deeper understanding of the demons that drove Cookson to become one of the most popular novelists of her day. It is a story of terrible poverty, of harsh lessons learnt generation after generation, but also of hope and eventual reconciliation.

Kathleen Jones is the author of the highly regarded Catherine Cookson: The Biography. She was born and brought up on a small hill farm in the Lake District and left for London at sixteen. Her previous books include A Glorious Fame (1987) followed by Learning Not to be First: The Life of Christina Rossetti (1990) and A Passionate Sisterhood (1994). She returned to the Lake District in 1991, where she lives in a partially derelict watermill with her partner.