There were many who said of Riley (as he was almost always
known) that in his early life he appeared to be older than his
years. With a harsh childhood behind him, he left school with little
in the way of knowledge but brimful of optimism, and secure in the
knowledge that one of his teachers, Fred Beardsley, had faith in him;
although at the time neither of them could have envisaged how the
other was to influence the course of their lives.
Fred Beardsley, who much to everyone's surprise had become acquainted
with and married Louise Barrington, a teacher at his school, within a
matter of weeks, ran into Riley while they were on their honeymoon in
Paris. Riley said he'd won first prize in a talent competition - hence
his presence, with his uncle, in the city for the weekend. In
addition, he told the happy couple that as a result of winning the
competition he had been offered a 'position' at The Little Palace
Theatre in Fellburn.
Fred and Louise, who suspected that the position' was probably that of
a dogsbody, nevertheless encouraged Riley, whom they knew to be an
expert mimic. After a time, however, it became clear to them that
Riley had - actually been appointed assistant stage-manager. And then
he surprised them by forming a close friendship with the leading lady,
thirty-something Nyrene Forbes-Mason, who he claimed was nurturing his
burgeoning talent as an actor. What Riley hadn't told them, however,
was that he had great hopes of the relationship developing into
something more than friendship ...
Over the subsequent years, Fred and Louise observed with amazement the
rise to fame and fortune of this remarkable lad, as did his parents
and all those who knew him. As for his relationship with Nyrene, that
did indeed change; although the manner in which it progressed was not
quite as Riley had planned.
In a career that has extended over more than forty-five years,
Catherine Cookson, Britain's best-loved writer, has seldom written a
more forthright and controversial novel, as she explores with
remarkable insight the relationship between a young man and an older
woman.
Catherine Cookson was born in Tyne Dock, the illegitimate
daughter of a poverty-stricken woman, Kate, whom she believed to be
her older sister. She began work in service but eventually moved south
to Hastings, where she met and married a local grammar-school
master. Although she was originally acclaimed as a regional writer -
in 1968 her novel The Round Tower won the Winifred Holtby Award
- her readership quickly spread throughout the world and her many
bestselling novels have established her as the best-loved of
contemporary writers. After receiving an OBE in 1985, Catherine
Cookson was created a Dame of the British Empire in 1993. She was
appointed an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in
1997. For many years she and her husband Tom lived near Newcastle upon
Tyne. She died shortly before her ninetysecond birthday, in June 1998.
