Author:
• Saturday, March 31st, 2012

Josephine Cox was born in 1941 in a cotton-mill house in Blackburn, Lancashire in the north of England. Her family was very large and poor. She was the sixth out of ten children and married her husband, Ken, when she was sixteen years old and had two sons.

When her sons started school, she went to college and after completing her studies was accepted at Cambridge University but couldn’t go because of having to leave her family, living away from home. Instead she worked as a teacher.

Josephine Cox wrote her first novel while working as a teacher, before dedicating herself full-time to writing. She has also written novels under the pseudonym, Jane Brindle.

In 2011 she won the “Superwoman of Great Britain” award and was number seven on the official UK best-sellers top fifty and was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Romantic Novelist Association. She has written nearly forty novels to date. Her first, Let Loose The Tigers was published in 1988, The Loner in 2007 and her latest novel, Three Letters was published in February 2012.

She lives in a small village in Woburn Sands, Buckinghamshire, near her two sons and their families.

Josephine Cox is a good story teller and her novels are always best sellers. She once said: “I could never imagine a single day without writing and it’s been that way since as far back as I can remember”.

Afflicted by the worst nightmarish night in his life, Davie Adams, the main character of The Loner, is a vulnerable teenager who decides to escape from the family home in Blackburn. His decision is taken after the sudden departure of his father, Don, that same night in great anger and despair and the tragic and unexpected death of his alcoholic, uncontrollably loose, young mother, Rita, also the same night. Davie leaves his beloved maternal grandfather, Joseph, behind.

Davie makes the firm decision to find his father but without success. Weary, disillusioned and far from home, he is determined to earn his living like an adult by accepting whatever job he can find along the way.

Despite what the title of the novel suggests, Davie is not aloof or a loner and can get along and make friends easily. He is very fond of Judy, his childhood friend and finds her a pillar of support. Later in the story he is attracted to Lucy, the daughter of his respected employer, Frank. Lucy is madly in love with Davie. She is impatient and starts making plans for their marriage. Davie is also a faithful friend and keeps in touch with his dear old friend, Eli, who reminds him of his grandfather. He opens-up to Lucy’s housekeeper and cook, Maggie, and takes her into his confidence by telling her about his long friendship with Judy back home in Blackburn. Davie, throughout the novel, has family, friends and acquaintances.

The story moves very slowly for no reason. The setting of the story takes too long and could have been made shorter. On the other hand, the ending is accelerated. It’s an unpretentious romantic, dramatic story with a happy ending. An easy read.

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Category: Book Reviews
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One Response

  1. 1
    PETA RHODES 

    Have just read Blood Brothers, and I must say, I couldn’t put it down. It was well written and kept you hanging on tenderhooks till the very end. Will look forward to reading more of Josaphine Cox books.

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