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Ida Cook
Ida Cook
Born	24 August 1904; Sunderland, England
Died	22 December 1986 (aged 82)
Pen name	Mary Burchell
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	British
Period	1936–1985
Genre	Romance
Notable works	The Warrender Saga
Relatives	Louise Cook (sister)

Ida Cook (24 August 1904 – 22 December 1986) was a British campaigner for Jewish refugees and, as Mary Burchell, a romance novelist.

Ida Cook and her sister Louise Cook (1901–1991) rescued Jews from the Nazis during the 1930s.^[1]^[2] The sisters helped 29 people escape, funded mainly by Ida's writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honoured as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel.^[3] In 2010 she was recognised as a British Hero of the Holocaust with her sister.

Between 1936 and 1985, under the pen name Mary Burchell, Ida Cook wrote 112 romance novels for Mills & Boon — many of which were later republished by Harlequin. She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, serving as its second president from 1966 to 1986.

Biography

Personal life

Ida Cook was born on 24 August 1904 in Sunderland, County Durham, England.^[4] With her elder sister Louise Cook (1901–1991), she attended The Duchess's School in Alnwick and later took civil service jobs in London. Both sisters developed a passionate interest in opera.^[5]

During the 1930s, as part of the work they undertook to help Jews to escape from the Nazi regime, the sisters visited Germany on multiple occasions, using their enthusiasm for opera as a cover for their frequent travel, and smuggled Jewish people's jewellery and other valuables across the German border, thereby enabling Jews fleeing Germany to satisfy British financial security requirements for immigration.^[2] They worked with Austrian conductor Clemens Krauss and his wife, the Romanian soprano Viorica Ursuleac, who had initially told them of the persecution of the Jews.^[1] The sisters enabled the escape of 29 Jews and others needing to flee from Nazi Germany, funded mainly by Ida's writing. The Cooks gave them an address to come to, a flat in Dolphin Square in Pimlico. Among those recued were Else Mayer-Lismann and her family.^[6]

In 1965 the Cook sisters were honoured as Righteous among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel. In 2010 the British Government named each of them a British Hero of the Holocaust.^[7]

Writing career

In 1936 Ida published her first romance novels as Mary Burchell. During her career she wrote 112 romances for Mills & Boon, later re-edited by Harlequin Books, including the famous Warrender Saga, a series about the opera and concert-hall world. She incorporated many famous operas (Otello, Eugene Onegin and Carmen, among others) into the Warrender series plots. She wrote in the Romantic Novelists' Association's newsletter:^[8]

I concede that a bad romantic novel is embarrassing and indefensible. So is a bad so-called realistic novel. And it is usually pretentious into the bargain, which is insufferable. But a good romantic novel is a heart-warming thing, which strikes a responsive chord in those who are happy and offers a certain lifting of the spirits to those who are not.

In 1950 she published her autobiography, We Followed Our Stars. In 2008 it was re-issued, re-edited and expanded as Safe Passage.^[2]

Cook was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1956 (its first series) when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.^[9] She ghost-wrote Tito Gobbi's autobiography, My Life (1979).^[10]

Legacy

In January 2017, Sunderland Council erected a blue plaque commemorating the sisters on the site of their childhood home at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland.^[1]^[11] The same year, producer Donald Rosenfeld discussed plans to make a film of the sisters' humanitarian work and his efforts to unseal CIA files on their activities.^[12]^[13] The film was to be based on the research by Vincent.

In 2022, investigative journalist Isabel Vincent published Overture of Hope about the Cook Sisters.^[14]

An episode of the documentary series Mysteries at the Museum features the sisters' activities in rescuing Jews from Nazi Germany.^{[citation needed]}

In 2024, the Cook sisters and their work rescuing German Jews were the focus of an episode of History's Secret Heroes on BBC Radio 4.

Bibliography

Burchell's works include:^[5]

As Mary Burchell

Single novels

Wife to Christopher, 1936
Except my Love, 1937
Nobody Asked Me, 1937
But Not For Me, 1938
Other Lips Have Loved You (later republished as Two Loves Have I), 1938
With All My Worldly Goods, 1938
Yet Love Remains, 1938
After Office Hours, 1939
Little Sister, 1939
One of the Family, 1939
Such is Love, 1939
I'll Go With You, 1940
Pay Me Tomorrow, 1940
Yours With Love, 1940
Accompanied by His Wife, 1941
Always Yours, 1941
Just a Nice Girl, 1941
Strangers May Marry, 1941
Love Made the Choice, 1942
Thine Is My Heart, 1942
Where Shall I Wander? (later republished as Bargain Wife), 1942
Dare I Be Happy?, 1943
My Old Love Came, 1943
Dearly Beloved, 1944
Take Me with You, 1944
Thanks to Elizabeth, 1944
Away Went Love, 1945
Meant for Each Other, 1945
Find Out the Way, 1946
First Love-Last Love, 1946
Wife by Arrangement, 1946
Not Without You, 1947
Under Joint Management, 1947
Ward of Lucifer, 1947
If You Care, 1948
The Brave in Heart, 1948
Then Come Kiss Me, 1948
Choose Which You Will, 1949
I Will Love You Still, 1949
If This Were All, 1949
Wish on the Moon, 1949
A Letter for Don, 1950
At First Sight, 1950
Love Him or Leave Him, 1950
Here I Belong, 1951
Mine for a Day, 1951
Tell Me My Fortune, 1951
Over the Blue Mountains, 1952
Stolen Heart, 1952
Sweet Adventure, 1952
A Ring on Her Finger, 1953
No Real Relation, 1953
The Heart Cannot Forget, 1953
The Heart Must Choose, 1953
Meet Me Again (later republished as Nurse Allison's Trust), 1954
Under the Stars of Paris, 1954
When Love's Beginning, 1954
The Prettiest Girl, 1955
Yours to Command, 1955
For Ever and Ever, 1956
Loving is Giving, 1956
On the Air, 1956
To Journey Together, 1956
And Falsely Pledge My Love, 1957
It's Rumoured in the Village, 1957
Joanna at the Grange, 1957
Love is my Reason, 1957
Loyal in All (later republished as Nurse Marika, Loyal in All), 1957
Dear Sir, 1958
Dear Trustee, 1958
Hospital Corridors, 1958
The Girl in the Blue Dress, 1958
Honey, 1959
Star Quality (later republished as Surgeon of Distinction), 1959
Across the Counter, 1960
Choose the One You'll Marry, 1960
Corner House, 1960
Paris—and My Love, 1960
My Sister Celia, 1961
Reluctant Relation, 1961
The Wedding Dress, 1961
House of Conflict, 1962
Inherit My Heart, 1962
Dangerous Loving, 1963
Sweet Meadows, 1963
Do Not Go, My Love, 1964/01
The Strange Quest of Anne Weston (later republished as The Strange Quest of Nurse Anne), 1964
Girl With a Challenge, 1965
Her Sister's Children, 1965
The Other Linding Girl, 1966
Cinderella After Midnight, 1967
The Marshall Family, 1967
Though Worlds Apart, 1967
Missing from Home, 1968
A Home for Joy, 1969
The Rosewood Box, 1970
Call and I'll Come, 1970
Second Marriage, 1971
One Man's Heart, 1971

The Warrender Saga

A Song Begins, 1965 (Otello)
The Broken Wing (later republished as Damaged Angel), 1966 (excerpts Così fan tutte, Semiramide, Norma)
When Love is Blind, 1967 (Beethoven's 3rd Concerto)
The Curtain Rises, 1969 (The Magic Flute)
Child of Music, 1971
Music of the Heart, 1972
Unbidden Melody, 1973 (Eugene Onegin)
Song Cycle, 1974
Remembered Serenade, 1975 (L'amore dei tre re)
Elusive Harmony, 1976 (Carmen, Otello, André Chénier)
Nightingales, 1980 (Mendelssohn's Elijah)
Masquerade with Music, 1982 (I Pagliacci)
On Wings of Song, 1985 (Alceste, Suor Angelica)

Omnibus collections

3 Great Novels: Take Me With You; Choose Which You Will; Meant for Each Other (1975)
3 Great Novels: The Heart Cannot Forget; Ward of Lucifer; A Home for Joy
3 Great Novels: The Other Linding Girl; Girl with a Challenge; My Sister Celia
It's Rumored in the Village / Except My Love / Strangers May Marry (1983)

Anthologies in collaboration

Golden Harlequin Library Vol. VIII: Choose The One You'll Marry / Sweet Barbary / Senior Surgeon at St. David's (1970) (with Pamela Kent and Elizabeth Gilzean)
Golden Harlequin Library XLI: Over The Blue Mountains; Summer Lightning; Lucy Lamb; Doctor's Wife (1973) (with Sara Seale and Jill Tahourdin)
Tell Me My Fortune / A Scent Of Lemons / Country Of The Wine (1979) (with Jill Christian and Mary Wibberley)
Harlequin Classic Library (1980) (with Elizabeth Hoy, Alex Stuart, Susan Barrie, Juliet Shore, Jean S. MacLeod, Elizabeth Houghton and Jill Tahourdin)
Just a Nice Girl / Pride of Madeira / Valley of Paradise (1983) (with Elizabeth Hunter and Margaret Rome)
The Hills of Maketu / Under the Stars of Paris / Every Wise Man (1986) (with Gloria Bevan and Jacqueline Gilbert)