ABSTRACT
Working-class heroines like Tilly Trotter and Biddy Millican typically grace the covers of Catherine Cookson’s novels. Not only do they bear a striking physical resemblance to the image of the young Catherine McMullen, wrapped in her shawl and reproduced on the cover of Cookson’s 1969 memoir, Our Kate, but they share with her their triumph over the oft-repeated obstacles of poverty, illegitimacy, and abuse. The source of their troubles stems primarily from men, who more often abandon rather than rescue Cookson’s heroines, reinforcing the author’s mantra that to achieve economic security women need education and employment, not necessarily love. The appeal of the Cookson novel can be neatly summarized in the words of one female reader from South Shields: “it’s not about the romance, it’s about the struggles” (Thornham et al. 151). Interestingly, the subplots and even plots of several of Cookson’s novels place the “struggles”—physical and emotional-of the men of the North East front and center. Complicating the issue is that it is not always clear just who is the “hero”1 in a Cookson novel, as even those described as “lovely” men sometimes commit adultery and spousal abuse, or find too much solace at the pub.
