Catherine Cookson — The Obsession

Bantam Press 1995 Hardback, 317pp. Miss Beatrice Penrose-Steel celebrates her twenty-first birthday in style with her family gathered around her. As the eldest of four daughters, Beatrice assumed control of the house after her mother's death. While the three youngest plan to escape by any means, including marriage, Beatrice enjoys directing the servants, dusting imaginary spots of dirt, and trying to please her beloved father, Simon. When Simon is killed in a freak accident, the ugly truth about his financial condition surfaces: he is heavily in debt to gamblers and moneylenders who hold a mortgage on the house. Beatrice, devastated by the revelations, ruthlessly destroys her family's remaining happiness in an effort to maintain her grip on the house and on appearances. Her whole life is built on one obsession after another, but even her family is shocked by the lengths to which she will go to get her way. DJ; Heavy; Owner's Name inside. (ISBN: 9780593034798). Very Good.