The Hamilton Trilogy

Series · 3 books · 1983-1985

By Catherine Cookson

Books in series

Hamilton

1983

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 na�ve 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...

Goodbye Hamilton

1985

The second volume of a Catherine Cookson trilogy, following "Hamilton". Freed at last from a disastrous marriage, Maisie had also become a bestselling author with her first book - about Hamilton, the remarkable horse who existed only in her imagination, and was her guide, philosopher and friend.

Harold

1985

Catherine Cookson's well-loved novels HAMILTON and GOODBYE HAMILTON told the story of Maisie, who invented an imaginary horse to keep her company through the long years of an unhappy marriage, and became a bestselling author. In this engaging sequel, Hamilton has vanished from Maisie's life and two human companions take his place in a story full of excitement, laughter and love. In the days of mourning that followed the death of her second husband Nardy, Maisie took comfort from the company of the cheerful, bright-eyed little cockney boy called Harold. Now, a year later, she has decided to adopt him, to the delight of his large, raucous family - and, of course, Harold himself.

Author

Catherine Cookson

Author · 111 books

Catherine Cookson was born in Tyne Dock, the illegitimate daughter of a poverty-stricken woman, Kate, who Catherine believed was her older sister. Catherine began work in service but eventually moved south to Hastings, where she met and married Tom Cookson, a local grammar-school master. Although she was originally acclaimed as a regional writer - her novel The Round Tower won the Winifred Holtby Award for the best regional novel of 1968 - her readership quickly spread throughout the world, and her many best-selling novels established her as one of the most popular contemporary woman novelist. She received an OBE in 1985, was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993, and was appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1997. For many years she lived near Newcastle upon Tyne.