Book description
'I can take him away from you any time I want.' Her mistress's cruel
taunt is deeply disturbing to Jenny. But why should Claudia be
interested in a servant's sweetheart? Jenny reckons without Claudia's
vicious nature; using a wily trick she seduces Frank, who, overcome with
shame, departs for a new life in Blackburn. Losing her sweetheart is
just the first of many disasters that leave Jenny struggling to cope
alone. When Claudia gives birth to Frank's baby girl she cruelly disowns
the helpless infant and relies on Jenny to care for little Katie and
love her as her own. Always afraid for the beloved child who has come to
depend on her, Jenny is constantly called upon to show courage and
fortitude to fight for all she holds dear. In her heart she yearns for
Frank, believing that one day they must be reunited. When Fate takes a
hand, it seems as though Jenny may see her dreams come true. The story
of Josephine Cox is as extraordinary as anything in her novels. Born in
a cotton-mill house in Blackburn, she was one of ten children. Her
parents, she says, brought out the worst in each other, and life was
full of tragedy and hardship - but not without love and laughter. At the
age of sixteen, Josephine met and married 'a caring and wonderful man',
and had two sons. When the boys started school, she decided to go to
college and eventually gained a place at Cambridge University, though
was unable to take this up as it would have meant living away from home.
However, she did go into teaching, while at the same time helping to
renovate the derelict council house that was their home, coping with the
problems caused by her mother's unhappy home life - and writing her
first full-length novel. Not surprisingly, she then won the 'Superwoman
of Great Britain' Award, for which her family had secretly entered her,
and this coincided with the acceptance of her novel for publication.
Josephine gave up teaching in order to write full time. She says, 'I
love writing, both recreating scenes and characters from my past,
together with new storylines which mingle naturally with the old. I
could never imagine a single day without writing, and it's been that way
since as far back as I can remember.'
