The Silent Lady

by Catherine Cookson

Book Overview

Catherine Cookson was one of the world's most beloved writers. Her books have sold millions of copies, and her characters and their stories have captured the imagination of readers around the globe. She passed away in 1998, but luckily for her fans, Cookson left behind several unpublished novels, among them the compelling Silent Lady. The story begins with a shocking revelation, delivered by a disheveled woman who presents herself at the offices of...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743227611
• ISBN13: 9780743227612
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Uplifting

Sure there are flaws in this story. But overall it is so uplifting, so noble & I ended up with such a good feeling that those flaws become less significant. My one cavil is I would have the husband to suffer more what what he did. Like being in prison.

Her final book.

After an illustrious career that spans half a century Cookson thought she was finished. With failing health and too weak to write or type she dictated, what to her was a story that must be told. As she approached the project, she reminisces in the dedication, that she had the story in her head from start to finish, and it was actually a warranted way to take her mind off of her miseries and impending death. The story begins with the astonishing arrival of a woman who has been missing for well over two decades. From this moment on we are led down a path of injustice and redemption. The characters are so real you can feel their hearts beating from the pages of the book. Adverse as their lives are they find joy in each other and the simple moments of the day. I will miss this author, it is good to know that her works will live on for years to come. Kelsana 3/23/02

fun early-mid twentieth century British relationship tale

In 1955 London, a woman in tattered clothing arrives at the law firm of Alexander Armstrong & Son. The receptionist starts to toss the vagrant out, but hesitates when the woman mentions Mr. Armstrong by name and says she is Mrs. Baindor. The receptionist still has doubts, but informs a higher up who informs Alexander. Upon hearing the name, a stunned Alexander races out of his office to see the disheveled woman. He arranges for Mrs. Baindor to enter his sister's nursing home. Over twenty-six years ago, Irene Baindor vanished after a particularly nasty argument with her abusive spouse. Alexander has been looking for her ever since with no success until she arrived at his office wearing the same garb she wore over a quarter of a century ago. She holds a package in a death grip refusing to let it go, but his willing to cooperate on everything else as long as Alexander gets her son to visit her. Still, he wonders, as he has since she vanished, where she has been all this time? THE SILENT LADY is an exciting mystery that works quite well when readers glimpse the enigmatic Irene's abstruse past. However, the action bogs down when others pontificate with endless soliloquies. Irene is the key character whose past makes the story line hum when it centers on her, but when someone else like Alexander takes the stage, the plot loses momentum. Though she died in 1998, Catherine Cookson is still cooking those engaging early to mid twentieth century British relationship dramas that have made her a household name.Harriet Klausner