Review: Meet The Mallens
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2009
This is my first Catherine Cookson novel and it will not be my last.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is not deep, meaningful, or even thought evoking but is an entertaining family drama that had me on the edge of my seat from page 2.  (Page one was scenery descriptions)Meet the Mallens, a rich family in 1851.  The head of the Mallens is Thomas, a very arrogant man who has sired numerous bastards across the surrounding farms.  He has one legitimate son and one daughter (who really plays no role in the book whatsoever).  The legitimate son commits a crime at the same time that Thomas loses his lands, house, and all his frivolous possesssions.  A life of hard gambling and unpaid debts has caught up with both Mallen men.  When his fugitive son disappears, Thomas Mallen is taken down a few pegs and becomes dependent on his mistress Anna, also his nieces' governess.His nieces are Barbara and Constance.  Readers will be charmed by the closeness of the sisters as they grow together and intrigued by their relationship with Anna.  All these women, including the maid, Mary, form a strong bond and throughout many horrors, tragedies, and difficulties, the bond remains intact.  And there is no small amount of difficulties as one of Thomas's bastard sons proceeds to enter their lives and upon taking one of the nieces to wife, attempts to exact his revenge on the entire family thru her, to hell with whoever gets harmed in the process.A terrific family story.  There is no end to the drama or surprises.  There is scandal and shame and betrayal, but also love, affection, and trust.  The ending is not necessarily happy for all, but does introduce babies Michael and Barbara which I feel we will be reading more of in the next book, The Mallen Girl.This is the first of a trilogy and I am eager to begin the next book.