Catherine Cookson "The Golden Straw."
A historical novel following "Year of the Virgins" and spanning the years from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. It tells the story of a milliner who falls in love with a hotel guest whilst on holiday in Nice. The relationship is to bring nothing but trouble to her and will affect the whole family for generations to come.
Straw, as it would be named, was a large, broad-brimmed hat presented to Emily Pearson by her long-time friend and employer Mabel Arkwright, milliner and modiste. And before long it was to her employer that Emily owed the gift of the business itself, for Mabel was in poor health and had come to rely more and more on Emily before her untimely death in 1880.
While on holiday in France, Emily and the Golden Straw attracted the eye of Paul Steerman, a guest at the hotel, and throughout his stay he paid her unceasing attention. But Paul Steerman was not all he seemed to be and he was to bring nothing but disgrace and tragedy to Emily, precipitating a series of events that would influence the destiny of not only her children but her grandchildren too.
"The Golden Straw" conceived on a panoramic scale, brilliantly portrays a whole rich vein of English life from the heyday of the Victorian era to the stormy middle years of the present century.
Hardcover. 1994.
Used book. Very good, nice and clean. Like new inside.