Love and Mary Ann — Catherine Cookson

Her expensive convent education hadn't changed Mary Ann Shaughnessy one little bit. Sure, she could come over all refined when she had to, but who'd want to talk ever so nice on a farm?

But in other respects she was growing up fast. As Mary Ann began to learn about the feelings of adults, so could she see that the more they loved someone, the more they could hurt and be hurt. And it wasn't just grown-ups who felt this way either. With something of a start, she realised that -- whenever she caught sight of Corny Boyle -- she could recognize those same feeling swelling up inside herself.