Catherine Cookson

Catherine Cookson (1906–1998) was an English author. Born in Tyne Dock, she grew up in poor circumstances. She wrote her first short stories at the age of sixteen and, from the age of forty, focused mainly on the lives of the working class in northeast England. Her partly autobiographical novel “Our Kate” was published in 1950 and became a major success. Cookson published almost 90 novels, which were translated into more than twelve languages and in some cases adapted for film. In 1993, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II.