Kirjahaku

In the heat of late afternoon, a young boy waits at the station for his father. A plume of steam, white against the purple-heathered hills, marks the train. Beyond, blooming along the shoreline, the flowers of high summer, as a tall-funnelled paddle steamer beats and froths down the wide Clyde estuary . . . A narrative in the great Cronin tradition, this is the stirring chronicle of Laurence Carroll as he grows from childhood to adult years in Scotland. The tale of his struggles – early illness, a widowed mother, poverty, the uncles who try to help him, and the women who have such an unhappy effect upon him, is told with warm humour and with that intense and sympathetic realism for which A J Cronin is known. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, A Song of Sixpence is a great book by a much-loved author.

The famous Dr Finlay stories Adventures of a Black Bag represents a selection of A J Cronin’s best stories – stories which are tragic, funny and wry, each revolving around two doctors whose tremendously popular TV and radio series have made them household names: Dr Cameron and Dr Finlay. These stories have that universal appeal which has become A J Cronin’s trademark, established by bestsellers such as Hatter’s Castle, The Stars Look Down and The Citadel.

The poignant sequel to A Song of Sixpence The clinic stood high on an Alpine slope. Lush meadows, studded with autumn crocus, sloped steeply down. Across the valley, above the pinewoods, the high peaks were already dusted with snow. Like a toy railway, the line to Davos twisted and turned up along the mountain side. Laurence Carroll breathed in the pure, clear air. A wonderful place, a not-too-demanding job as resident doctor to the convalescent children flown out from England; it was a million miles from his Scottish childhood, the struggles to qualify and the grinding, poverty-stricken years as a young GP in the Welsh mining valleys. He was relaxed. Happy. But, soon to arrive at Zurich, a woman he had once known well, now a widowed mother, was to bring with her all the turmoil and anguish of his early years, flooding back into his casually ordered life.

"Vigil in the Night" is A. J. Cronin's poignant and moving tale of two nurses-of Anne, who devoted herself to serving others, and of her younger sister, Lucy, who meant to get everything in life for herself. When Lucy's negligence causes the tragic death of a young patient, Anne takes the blame to protect her young sister-an act that threatens to destroy the brilliant nursing career that lies before her.

"The Valorous Years" represents something of an event for fans of A. J. Cronin. Here, published for the first time in book form, is his poignant and moving story of a young man, Duncan Stirling, who, though his left arm is crippled by polio, is determined to become a world-famous physician. Woven into Duncan's life are three unforgettable women-Margaret, whose charm and beauty cast a spell over him; Anna, a brilliant surgeon who wants to heal his useless arm; and Jean, the compassionate daughter of a kindly country doctor. With his keen understanding of the human condition, his deep moral conscience, and his extraordinary narrative skill, A. J. Cronin imbues "The Valorous Years" with all the qualities that have made his many other novels worldwide bestsellers.

""Adventures In Two Worlds"" is a memoir written by A.J. Cronin, a Scottish novelist and physician. The book chronicles his life from his childhood in a small Scottish town to his successful career as a doctor and writer. Cronin describes his struggles growing up in poverty and his determination to pursue a career in medicine. He also writes about his experiences working as a doctor in various locations, including a Welsh mining town and a remote island in the North Atlantic. In addition to his medical work, Cronin also discusses his passion for writing and the challenges he faced in balancing his two careers. He shares anecdotes about his interactions with famous authors such as H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw. Throughout the book, Cronin reflects on the two worlds he inhabited: the world of medicine and the world of literature. He explores the ways in which these two worlds intersected and influenced each other, and how his experiences in both fields shaped his worldview. Overall, ""Adventures In Two Worlds"" provides a fascinating insight into the life of a successful doctor and writer, and the challenges and rewards of pursuing multiple passions.This is a new release of the original 1952 edition.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Knowing his father’s profoundest wish, that his son should succeed him as Rector of Stillwater, Stephen Desmonde tried to be worthy. But the siren call of art was too overwhelming; he felt driven as though by demons to pursue his vision of the world’s beauty. He must put on canvas the truth as he saw it, whatever the cost might be, whether it was the blank misunderstanding of his family or the ridicule of the public. Few artists could have survived the scandal and mockery he had to endure in the sensational trial that stirred all England. Indeed, Stephen Desmonde himself could not have survived without the tender and understanding love of the unforgettable Jenny Dill, the uneducated but strangely wise little Cockney girl whose devotion kept him going when all else failed. It was Jenny who restored his confidence in himself and his vision, and in her love he found the serenity and peace that marked his greatest creations. Crusader’s Tomb, also published as A Thing of Beauty, is altogether a memorable novel, whose many characters and diverse moods are woven together with a skill and an appeal mastered by only the greatest storytellers of any age.

Originally published in 1945, The Green Years is one of A J Cronin’s best-loved novels. It tells the story of Robert Shannon, a young Irish Catholic boy, who, orphaned at the age of seven, is brought to live with his mother’s estranged family in Scotland. As he grows up in a dour Presbyterian town, only his great-grandfather, an incorrigible, swaggering, charming, larger-than-life character, seems able to rescue him from the narrow interests of the people who try to shape his life in their own image. Disappointed in love and in his burning ambition to study medicine, the eighteen-year-old Robert sees his future as a blank wall. But, once again, he is saved from despair by his fiery relative, much to the chagrin of the rest of the family. This compassionate story of a boy’s growth to manhood, set against the harsh reality of life at the turn of the century, shows A J Cronin at his masterly best, creating a vivid gallery of characters with his customary blend of imagination, insight and tenderness. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, The Green Years is a great book by a much-loved author

The Stars Look Down was A.J. Cronin's fourth novel, published in 1935, and this tale of a North country mining family was a great favourite with his readers. Robert Fenwick is a miner, and so are his three sons. His wife is proud that all her four men go down the mines. But David, the youngest, is determined that somehow he will educate himself and work to ameliorate the lives of his comrades who ruin their health to dig the nation's coal. It is, perhaps, a typical tale of the era in which it was written – there were many novels about coal mining, but Cronin, a doctor turned author, had a gift for storytelling, and in his time wrote several very popular and successful novels In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, Hatter’s Castle and Cronin’s other novels, The Stars Look Down is deservedly remembered as a classic of its age.

Paul Mathry, a student about to graduate and embark upon a teaching career, finds out that his father was convicted for murder, a secret that his mother had hidden from him since his childhood. Driven by an intense desire to see his father, Paul sets out to visit him in prison, only to find out that visitors are never allowed there. From there, he meets the primary witnesses in the case that convicted his father, not all of whom are supportive to Paul's cause. He encounters several dead ends but he persists, with the help of a store girl named Lena and a news reporter. His persistent campaign finally bears fruit. Rees Mathry, Paul's father, goes on appeal and is vindicated. The novel ends with Paul's father, a hardened, cynical man, seeing a fleeting hope for self-renewal and a purposeful life. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Beyond This Place is a great book by a much-loved author.

Gracie Lindsay’s return to Levenford arouses mixed feelings: to her uncle Daniel she is the daughter he never had; to David Murray she is the woman he still loves though he is now engaged to another; and to the townspeople she is the girl who seven years earlier left Levenford pregnant and in disgrace. Now at 25 Gracie is more lovely than ever and just as careless of propriety as before . . . This is the poignant and moving story of Gracie’s struggle to win self-respect and the regard of the town. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Gracie Lindsay is a great book by a much-loved author.

Lady with Carnations is not only the traditional name of a famous Holbein miniature which unexpectedly comes into a London salesroom in the mid-thirties: it is also the soubriquet by which some of her close friends think of the antique-dealer who buys it. Katharine Lorimer, by hard work, flair and courage, has worked her way to the top of a trade that traditionally belongs to men. Yet, having acquired the Holbein despite fierce competition, she feels not triumph but a terrible anxiety and desolation. The antique business is going through the doldrums, and she herself is reaching the limit of her resources. Worse still, she feels appallingly alone in the world. Reserved and fastidious, she keeps a certain distance from even her dearest friends, and the person she loves most, her niece Nancy, is bound up in her own ambitions to become a famous actress. Katharine has bought the miniature as a gigantic gamble, hoping to sell it to a wealthy American collector, and she sets off for New York with Nancy and her niece’s fiancé. What happens to them all there, and how their lives are altered, makes an engrossing tale, a delightful love story, showing at its best Dr Cronin’s gifts as a novelist. Every Cronin ‘fan’, every reader who enjoys a novel with the old-fashioned virtues of a well-worked-out plot, sympathetic characters, and humanity, will find it absorbing. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Lady With Carnations is a great book by a much-loved author.

Robert Shannon was a devoted scientist on the brink of a medical discovery of great importance. He had no time or inclination for women . . . or for any of the world outside his laboratory. But Jean Law had other plans for him. Strictly brought up by narrow-minded parents, confined by her hospital lectures and her dingy boarding-house, she hardly knew the fires that burned beneath her calm exterior . . . except that they burned for Robert Shannon. She knew she had to have him for herself, and, despite her family’s religious beliefs , their shocked disapproval, and all she had been taught was her destiny, she was determined to fight for him. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Shannon’s Way is a great book by a much-loved author.

In a story of wide and fascinating detail A. J. Cronin tells of Dr. David Morey who tries to atone for his desertion of the woman he loved. Beguiled by the prospect of riches he goes on to marry Dottie, a spoiled but beautiful neurotic who brings him almost constant misery, until a chance remark makes him seek retribution in memories of the past and a return to his native Scotland. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, The Judas Tree is a great book by a much-loved author.

Desmonde Fitzgerald is handsome, charming and blessed with a marvellous singing voice – he is the Minstrel Boy. He becomes a priest, winning the coveted Golden Chalice for his singing when in seminary school abroad. But the duality of nature threatens to destroy the brilliant future that lies before him. Beloved of his parishioners and canon, he is devastatingly attractive to women, in particular the wealthy patron of his church at Kilbarrack, Ireland. But it is not until her wayward and sensual niece, Claire, arrives that disaster strikes . . . In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, The Minstrel Boy is a great book by a much-loved author