The Victorian Landscape of Catherine Cookson Country JULIE ANNE TADDEO I N HER NOVEL OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY VILLAGE LIFE, A DINNER OF HERBS, Catherine Cookson’s character, Ben Hamilton, denounces the au- thenticity of history: When I read history, I always question it, because it’s been written by somebody who wasn’t there, who has taken the facts from some- body else who has read about it and who wasn’t there .... once it gets into here (he tapped his forehead) . . . one’s particular upbring- ing takes hold of what it hears and presents it through the lips as the eyes of your particular type of imagination see it. (462) Although Cookson’s fans overwhelmingly commend her ‘‘realistic’’ portrayals of nineteenth-century England, most historians would have to heed Ben Hamilton’s advice. Still, while her novels may not be the most trustworthy documents about the social and cultural life of the period, they do tell us a great deal about the mind-set of the author and her readers in post-World War II England. Since publishing her first novel in 1950 and her 103rd after her death in 1998, Catherine Cookson has sold over 100 million books in 18 languages; between 1980 and 2000, one-third of all fiction bor- rowed from public libraries were Cookson novels—making her the most popular British novelist of the twentieth century. Cookson’s best- selling status in Britain has made her the topic of debate by journalists and academics who cannot agree if her novels fall within the realm of romantic ‘‘fluff’’ or serious ‘‘literature.’’ Not only have her novels been reproduced on television and stage, garnering millions of viewers, but a museum in the north of England is also dedicated in her honor. In fact, The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2009 Journal compilation r 2009, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 162