Hamilton by Catherine Cookson
Headline (paperback), 1983
298 Pages
This book is part of my Popsugar Reading Challenge 2015. The category for this book is ‘a book your mom loves’.
Catherine Cookson is my mum’s favorite writer. She’s encouraged me to read her for years. One birthday I bought her the complete set of DVD’s that have been adapted for the screen by the BBC. Nothing I’ve bought her since has even come close. I borrowed them once and decided to watch a few. I watched them in the order they were shown on TV. I was disturbed my how many featured women who were raped and in one case the woman fell in love with her rapist. That put me off reading Catherine Cookson. I decided to read Hamilton for this challenge because I know it’s one of my mum’s favourites.
BLURB FROM THE COVER
Maisie doesn’t understand why her mother can’t love her, but she knows that her life is hard, and deeply unhappy. When the only person she trusts, her stepfather George, leaves, Maisie has no protector, until she begins to escape into her own imagination. She first meets Hamilton as a lonely seven year old, but he has to remain a secret, for what would people think if she reveals her only friend is an imaginary horse?
A childhood of neglect leaves her naïve and insecure – and people will always prey on the innocent. But Hamilton lives on in her mind, and perhaps he will be the one to save her.
EXTRACT
I’VE DONE IT! I have really done it. After thirteen years I’ve done it. How long have I wanted to do it? Oh, for the whole of the thirteen years. Yes, all of that time. Now I don’t care what happens to me. I don’t. I don’t.
REVIEW
This was my first time reading Catherine Cookson.
I thought Hamilton was great, really great. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the book. Hamilton ticks all the boxes for a great read in my book: great characters, interesting plot and a good setting. I liked the fact Hamilton was written in the first person. First person is my favorite narrative point of view when it works. A writer needs to pull it off though and Cookson makes it work beautifully with Maisie’s voice. I could have read her voice for hundreds of more pages. Masie is the type of heroine you can really get behind and root for. Who could read Hamilton and not want Howard to fall down the stairs and break his neck? The happy ending was a little twee though and made the novel a fraction less enjoyable. Maisie could have gotten away from Howard and started a new life without it being nauseating. I’m glad I finally listened to my Mum after all these years.
RATING
