This collection of poems draws on many themes that will be familiar to the readers of Catherine Cookson’s novels: love, work, class and the beauty of nature. She also shares more personal thoughts, reflections on her own writing, marriage to her beloved Tom and life in the north of England.

From the earliest poem included here, written in 1925 when Catherine Cookson was nineteen years old, to poems written just before her death in 1998, this anthology spans the gamut of her life and work. The poems are characterized by her down-to-earth common sense and the hard-won philosophy she developed for herself. In ‘Brushed Nylon’ she tackles the subject of a failed relationship while ‘The Daily Round’ takes a look at working life. In more personal moments poems such as ‘Slow Me Down’ talk of her feelings about growing old and ‘The Joy of the Country’ recalls a holiday in Wales.

Catherine Cookson remains one of the nation’s favourite storytellers. She completed an astonishing 104 works in her lifetime, books which continue to bring pleasure to millions of readers. Just A Saying is her final work to be published and shows Catherine Cookson at her most intimate and inspirational.