title: The Black Candle
author:  Catherine Cookson 
description: Veteran romancer Cookson ( The Bailey Chronicles ) provides another satisfying drama featuring class tensions and an indomitable woman in 19th- century England. Heiress Bridget Mourdant, manager of her family's factory, squelches her attraction to working man Joe Skinner but oversees his education and promotion within the ranks. When Joe suddenly marries, Bridget is mystified, but the reader already knows that Joe's wife, a factory girl, carries the child of Lionel Filmore, scapegrace scion of the local gentry, who must wed wealthily to support his profligate ways. When the Skinners and Filmores inevitably clash, the innocent Joe is blamed for a resulting death. Though this intriguing saga is rich in colorful characters, Bridget stands firmly at its center, doing her best to shape the destinies of all around her over three generations. Bringing the period vividly to life, Cookson is in top form here. Doubleday Book Club alternate. <br />Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: The Black Candle is an extraordinary, sweeping, multigenerational saga, told
  by one of the world's most beloved storytellers, Catherine Cookson. Set in a
  nineteenthcentury village in the northern England countryside so familiar to
  Cookson, this heartwarming epic tale is a rich tapestry blending the
  historical detail, engrossing story, and memorable characters that readers
  have come to expect of this author.For The Black Candle, Catherine Cookson has
  created one of her most unforgettable heroines, Bridget Mordaunt, who oversees
  with a firm but loving hand the candle and blacking factories she inherited as
  a young girl. Bridget is a woman of innate goodness and character who is the
  steadfast advocate of less fortunate people such as Joseph Skinner, a factory
  employee unjustly accused of murder. The most remarkable of all of Catherine
  Cookson's(continued on back flap) Other Catherine Cookson titles:THE BAILEY
  CHRONICLESTHE HARROGATE SECRETTHE
  
  PARSON'S DAUGHTERTHE BANNAMAN LEGACYTHE WHIPT