The Loves Of Catrin

Iris Gower was born in Swansea. A mother of four, she wrote over twenty bestselling novels. She received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales Swansea in 1999 and was awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cardiff. She died in 2010.

The Loves of Catrin tells the story of Catrin Owen whose life began in the grim world of a Welsh copper town in the nineteenth century. Born and bred in the poverty-striken streets that sprawled round the smelting works, Catrin dreams of escaping from the smoke and grime and hardship that engulf her life. But Catrin's future will be with the man she marries - and she inspires the love of two men - Dylan Morgan from her own background - and John Richards, a well-bred gentleman.

The Other Woman

Iris Gower was born in Swansea. The mother of four children, she wrote over twenty bestselling novels. She received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales Swansea in 1999 and was awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cardiff.

Gwenllyn Lyons has been raised by her grandmother, in an elegant cottage set in the hills above the Wye Valley. One afternoon, as she and her grandmother return from town, they come across a man lying injured and unconscious by the river bank. They take him home and nurse him until he recovers but nothing seems to help him regain his lost memories - he has no idea who he is, or where he has come from. 
 
Over the long hot summer they spend together, Gwenllyn realises that she can't imagine what it would be like without this handsome young man in her life. As her love for the mysterious stranger grows, she cannot help rejoicing when she realises he feels the same way about her. Gwenllyn's only fear is that some day his past may come to haunt them - a different life, where another woman might be waiting for him. Will she ever have the happiness of being a bride, or will she always be the other woman?

(Firebird:3) A breathtaking and absorbing Welsh saga you won’t want to put down

Sweet Rosie

Another breaktaking saga of the romantic pottery industry from Wales's premier storyteller.

Let bestselling author Iris Gower sweep you away with this captivating and mesmerising saga. If you like Dilly Court, Rosie Goodwin and Kitty Neale, you will love this! 
 
READERS ARE LOVING SWEET ROSIE! 
"The storyline and the characters make this book come alive" -- ***** Reader review 
"Didn't want it to finish" -- ***** Reader review 
"Keeps one wanting more" -- ***** Reader review 
"Brilliant read" -- ***** Reader review 
 
******************************************************************** 
A YOUNG GIRL'S LOVE FOR A MAN...A MAN WHO IS DESTINED TO LOVE ANOTHER 
 
Rosie, sixteen, beautiful and vivacious, is in love with Watt Bevan, the manager of the famous Mainwaring Pottery. Content to adore him from afar, when he comes to her seventeenth birthday party she realizes that he is the only man she will ever love. 
 
But Watt, unaware of her feelings, is becoming increasingly drawn into the problems facing pottery owner Llinos Mainwaring, whose romantic marriage to Joe, the American Indian who stole her heart all those years ago, now seems in trouble. 
 
Before long, Rosie discovers that she is changed for ever from the innocent girl she once was, as she becomes involved with a man whose love she is destined never to have. 
 
Sweet Rosie is the third novel in Iris Gower's Firebird series. The saga continues in Daughters of Rebecca. Have you read Firebird and Dream Catcher, where the story began?

Iris Gower was born in Swansea. The mother of four grown-up children, she wrote over twenty bestselling novels.  She received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales Swansea in 1999 and was awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cardiff.

Let bestselling author Iris Gower sweep you away with this captivating and mesmerising saga. If you like Dilly Court, Rosie Goodwin and Kitty Neale, you will love this! 
 
READERS ARE LOVING SWEET ROSIE! 
"The storyline and the characters make this book come alive" -- ***** Reader review 
"Didn't want it to finish" -- ***** Reader review 
"Keeps one wanting more" -- ***** Reader review 
"Brilliant read" -- ***** Reader review 
 
******************************************************************** 
A YOUNG GIRL'S LOVE FOR A MAN...A MAN WHO IS DESTINED TO LOVE ANOTHER 
 
Rosie, sixteen, beautiful and vivacious, is in love with Watt Bevan, the manager of the famous Mainwaring Pottery. Content to adore him from afar, when he comes to her seventeenth birthday party she realizes that he is the only man she will ever love. 
 
But Watt, unaware of her feelings, is becoming increasingly drawn into the problems facing pottery owner Llinos Mainwaring, whose romantic marriage to Joe, the American Indian who stole her heart all those years ago, now seems in trouble. 
 
Before long, Rosie discovers that she is changed for ever from the innocent girl she once was, as she becomes involved with a man whose love she is destined never to have. 
 
Sweet Rosie is the third novel in Iris Gower's Firebird series. The saga continues in Daughters of Rebecca. Have you read Firebird and Dream Catcher, where the story began?

(The Cordwainers: 6): The sensational final instalment of The Cordwainers – a moving and emotional Welsh saga

The Wild Seed

The sixth in the wonderful Cordwainers series.

Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, this is the sensational final instalment of the Cordwainers series from bestselling author Iris Gower. 
 
READERS ARE LOVING THE CORDWAINERS! 
"I have really enjoyed reading this whole series...I would recommend the reading of any of the books by this author." - 5 STARS 
"Loved these books [-] definitely recommend this series: once you start you will want to read them all" - 5 STARS 
"You finish one book and you just have to start the next one." - 5 STARS 
"The best book I've read in a long time..."-Reader review 
"A great read - hard to put down" - 5 STARS 
 
****************************************** 
 
LOVE, REVENGE, PASSIONS RUNNING HIGH... 
 
Catherine O'Conner has a wild streak in her- and she has flouted convention to become the mistress of the man she loves, Boyo Hopkins, thereby making a dangerous enemy of the woman he has married. 
 
Bethan Hopkins is an older woman, a woman of breeding whose wealth and power make her a merciless adversary. Bent on vengeful destruction she begins to take apart Honey's Farm, Catherine's birthplace, selling it off in small parcels of land so that it can never be reclaimed. 
 
Failing to destroy her husband's love for Catherine, Bethan becomes more and more embittered. She retreats into a world inhabited by the ghosts of her forebears and becomes like a spider, putting out her deadly trap in order to ensnare the woman she hates. 
 
The Wild Seed is the final novel in Iris Gower's Cordwainers series. Have you read The Shoemaker's Daughter, The Oyster Catchers, Honey's Farm, Arian and Sea Mistress, the previous titles?

Iris Gower was born in Swansea, where she still lives. The mother of four grown-up children, she has written over twenty bestselling novels.  She received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales Swansea in 1999 and has been awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cardiff.

Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, this is the sensational final instalment of the Cordwainers series from bestselling author Iris Gower. 
 
READERS ARE LOVING THE CORDWAINERS! 
"I have really enjoyed reading this whole series...I would recommend the reading of any of the books by this author." - 5 STARS 
"Loved these books [-] definitely recommend this series: once you start you will want to read them all" - 5 STARS 
"You finish one book and you just have to start the next one." - 5 STARS 
"The best book I've read in a long time..."-Reader review 
"A great read - hard to put down" - 5 STARS 
 
****************************************** 
 
LOVE, REVENGE, PASSIONS RUNNING HIGH... 
 
Catherine O'Conner has a wild streak in her- and she has flouted convention to become the mistress of the man she loves, Boyo Hopkins, thereby making a dangerous enemy of the woman he has married. 
 
Bethan Hopkins is an older woman, a woman of breeding whose wealth and power make her a merciless adversary. Bent on vengeful destruction she begins to take apart Honey's Farm, Catherine's birthplace, selling it off in small parcels of land so that it can never be reclaimed. 
 
Failing to destroy her husband's love for Catherine, Bethan becomes more and more embittered. She retreats into a world inhabited by the ghosts of her forebears and becomes like a spider, putting out her deadly trap in order to ensnare the woman she hates. 
 
The Wild Seed is the final novel in Iris Gower's Cordwainers series. Have you read The Shoemaker's Daughter, The Oyster Catchers, Honey's Farm, Arian and Sea Mistress, the previous titles?

Halfpenny Field

Her enthralling novel about the Welsh drovers.

Iris Gower was born in Swansea. The mother of four, she wrote over twenty bestselling novels.She received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales Swansea in 1999 and was recently awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cardiff.

Jessie Price is young and beautiful, and has travelled the drovers' roads from South Wales to London's Smithfield Market. She is anxious to escape from her wicked boss, Jed Lambert, and becomes a milkmaid in London. Her ambition to own her own dairy grows, and she is helped by young Albie, who has fallen in love with her. 
 
Meanwhile, Non Jones is desperately unhappy. She knows that her husband Caradoc loves her despite the hostility of his family. Non is miserable when Caradoc leaves her and their son to go to London on the drove, and when she receives news of a terrible accident, her world falls apart. 
Jessie is fighting to make her business a success, but is devastated when Albie is arrested and sent to Newgate prison. She knows that he is innocent, and will rely on Non to speak for him in court. But Non has many worries of her own, and hasn't given up hope that she will be reunited with Caradoc, whatever it takes...

the triumphant climax to Iris Gower’s sensational Firebird saga

Paradise Park

The triumphant climax to the Firebird saga.

If you like Dilly Court, Rosie Goodwin and Kitty Neale, you will love this emotional and captivating saga, set amongst the romantic clay potteries of South Wales, from the pen of bestselling author Iris Gower. 
 
READERS ARE LOVING PARADISE PARK! 
"I loved every page of this book." - 5 STARS 
"Love Iris Gower books - [I] only wish someone could make them into movies - I'd buy the box sets. ABSOLUTELY brilliant author." - 5 STARS 
"Iris Gower triumphs again - another great story one that you don't want to put down. I read it in three days." - 5 STARS 
 
************************************************************************************* 
FACED WITH CHALLENGE AFTER CHALLENGE, CAN SHE TURN HER LIFE AROUND? 
 
When Bull Beynon, her one-time lover, marries someone else, Rhiannon, is left alone in the world. Proud and spirited, she gains a respectable post as housekeeper to an elderly man, but when he dies, his waspish sister throws her out onto the streets where she faces destitution. 
 
Determined to become respectable once and for all, Rhiannon obtains a job as maid to unhappy Janey Buchan, who takes a liking to her. But her luck doesn't last long and she soon finds herself along on the streets again. 
 
In desperation, knowing that little stands between her and a return to her old life, she finds herself at the Paradise Park Hotel. Once scarcely more than a bawdy house, it has now changed hands and Rhiannon starts working there, helping gradually to transform it from a place of ill-repute into one of the finest hotels in Swansea. 
 
The only thing lacking in her life is love, and with Bull Beynon married to sweet, gentle Katie, she fears that she may have to live out her life alone . . .

Iris Gower was born in Swansea.  A mother of four, she wrote over twenty bestselling novels.  She received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales Swansea in 1999 and was awarded an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cardiff.

If you like Dilly Court, Rosie Goodwin and Kitty Neale, you will love this emotional and captivating saga, set amongst the romantic clay potteries of South Wales, from the pen of bestselling author Iris Gower. 
 
READERS ARE LOVING PARADISE PARK! 
"I loved every page of this book." - 5 STARS 
"Love Iris Gower books - [I] only wish someone could make them into movies - I'd buy the box sets. ABSOLUTELY brilliant author." - 5 STARS 
"Iris Gower triumphs again - another great story one that you don't want to put down. I read it in three days." - 5 STARS 
 
************************************************************************************* 
FACED WITH CHALLENGE AFTER CHALLENGE, CAN SHE TURN HER LIFE AROUND? 
 
When Bull Beynon, her one-time lover, marries someone else, Rhiannon, is left alone in the world. Proud and spirited, she gains a respectable post as housekeeper to an elderly man, but when he dies, his waspish sister throws her out onto the streets where she faces destitution. 
 
Determined to become respectable once and for all, Rhiannon obtains a job as maid to unhappy Janey Buchan, who takes a liking to her. But her luck doesn't last long and she soon finds herself along on the streets again. 
 
 In desperation, knowing that little stands between her and a return to her old life, she finds herself at the Paradise Park Hotel. Once scarcely more than a bawdy house, it has now changed hands and Rhiannon starts working there, helping gradually to transform it from a place of ill-repute into one of the finest hotels in Swansea. 
 
The only thing lacking in her life is love, and with Bull Beynon married to sweet, gentle Katie, she fears that she may have to live out her life alone . . .

Iris Gower

When Ella Burton takes a job as a lowly cleaner at the glamorous Palace theatre in Swansea, she is surprised by how quickly she takes to the job - it's as if she was born for a life in the theatre. Unlike Kathleen, who wants her name in lights, it's backstage that Ella's heart lies, running the show under the watchful eye of Anthony. It's not long before she realises that she has fallen in love, and Ella begins to dream about a future that's far from everything she has ever known... 
 
But a tragic accident threatens to ruin everything she has worked for, and it seems clear that Ella will have no choice but to accept the man that her father chose for her - even if it breaks her heart. Will Ella be forced to put her family before her own happiness - in the ultimate act of love? 
 
Iris Gower, Wales' favourite bestselling storyteller, begins a powerful and warm-hearted series set around Swansea's beautiful theatre.

Iris Gower

Books by Iris Gower

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter