Hannah Massey

Hannah Massey by Catherine Cookson. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780426163527.

HANNAH Proud and canny, ignorant and intensely ambitious, Hannah Massey is a born ruler. Her kingdom may be only a working class household in County Durham, but within its walls her iron will governs a predominantly male family and her word is unchallengeable law. The apple of Hannah’s eye is her pretty younger daughter, Rosie,who has just returned home after a spell in London. Her return is shrouded in mystery and evasions, and when the truth does come out, Hannah’s world is torn apart.THE FIFTEEN Life in the Fifteen Streets was tough — a continual struggle for survival. Some families gave up and descended into a dismal state of grinding poverty. Others, like the O’Briens — and especially John O’Brien — fought grimly for a world they were only rarely allowed to glimpse. When John O’Brien fell in love with Mary Llewellyn,he knew there was a gulf between them that nothing could bridge — it was the gulf of the Fifteen Streets.