Catherine Cookson, The Hamiltons

The Hamiltons

Catherine Cookson

Simon & Schuster, Dec 2006, $25.00

ISBN: 0684808013

"Hamilton". In Tyneside since she has only two memories before she turned seven, lonely Maisie Rochester assumes that is when she first met Hamilton. Having no friends and a mom who never spoke with her, Maisie mostly talked to herself or her secret companion Hamilton. She told no one about his existence because he explained to her that kids would taunt her worse than they do now and adults would lock her away as a horse cannot be a human mentor, but though she told no one about her beloved advisor, she wrote all about her only friend and the horse sense guidance he provided to her. Hamilton remains Maisie's only constant as she becomes an adult.

"Goodbye Hamilton". Hamilton left Maisie soon after she declared her love for Nardy as his horse sense told him she no longer needed him. On the plus side, her diary of her life with Hamilton has become a bestseller even if everyone assumes Hamilton only lived in her imagination. Still, she has a chance to remarry, but she has doubts as she is dismal when dealing with people and her first time as a wife was a major failure. However, Hamilton has returned to help her, but this time he is accompanied by his fianc e, the beautiful mare Begonia. Maisie knows that whatever she does, if needed, her beloved Hamilton will return to guide her through the darkness.

This reprint contains two of Catherine Cookson's 1980s the Hamilton Trilogy (this reviewer has not read HAROLD) though I am unsure why only the first two tales were included in this collection. Both tales are superior, whimsical, deep looks at a lonely person who makes up an imaginary horse that seems very real as he guides her through human interaction and befriends her.

Harriet Klausner