A. J. Cronin

Father Francis Chisholm is a good priest-somewhat peculiar, perhaps, but a good priest all the same. Forged as a youth in the fires of suffering and tragedy, Francis accepts his vocation and strives to serve his people in humility and good humor, with compassion and courageous heart. After two spiritually eventful but conventionally unsuccessful assignments as a curate, Father Chisholm is sent as a missionary to China. Upon arrival, he finds his mission in ruins: the property deserted, the chapel roofless, the house reduced to rubble. For thirty-five years, Father Chisholm ministers to his people in spirit and body, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and leading souls out of sin and into Christ's own life-enduring throughout the onslaughts of poverty and plague, greed and indifference, famine and war.Recognized as the best of A. J. Cronin's novels, The Keys of the Kingdom has been lauded since 1941 as a "magnificent story of the great adventure of individual goodness" and a "subtle and spiritual story...told with warmth and vitality." Yet its supreme accomplishment is the credibility with which it portrays the truth that suffering is a promise of Christ and this life but a preparation for the next.

A book which inspired the creation of the NHS introduced by bestselling writer, Adam Kay.By former doctor A. J. Cronin, The Citadel is a moving story of tragedy, triumph and redemption. With a foreword by Adam Kay, the bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt.When newly qualified doctor Andrew Manson takes up his first post in a Welsh mining community, the young Scot brings with him a bagful of idealism and enthusiasm. Both are soon strained to the limit as Andrew discovers the reality of performing operations on a kitchen table and washing in a scullery, of unspeakable sanitation, of common infantile cholera and systemic corruption. There are no X-rays, no ambulances – nothing to combat the disease and poverty.It isn’t long before Andrew’s outspoken manner wins him both friends and enemies, but he risks losing his idealism when the fashionable, greedy world of London medicine claims him, with its private clinics, wealthy, spoilt patients and huge rewards.

"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.

Dr Finlay's Casebook brings together Adventures of a Black Bag and Dr Finlay of Tannochbrae, A. J. Cronin's two hugely popular collections featuring his most famous creation, Dr Finlay.Set in and around the fictional Scottish town of Levenford and village of Tannochbrae during the inter-war years, the stories found here are heart-warming, funny and touching, full of fascinating characters and unforgettable encounters. Made famous by the much-loved adaptations for radio and television, this edition features all the classic tales of Dr Finlay, his senior colleague Dr Cameron, and their unruffled housekeeper Janet, remain as fresh and entertaining now as they were upon first publication.

""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.

Adventures in Two Worlds – an autobiographical novel by A J Cronin, creator of television’s Dr Finlay and author of The Citadel and many other bestsellers. A master storyteller, A J Cronin presents possibly his most fascinating tale. Taking material directly from his own life, he tells of the early struggles of a poor medical student in Scotland, the cruel crushing of all hopes of becoming a surgeon, the years as a ship’s doctor and, later, life in the country practice that was the real Tannochbrae. There are many strange twists and turns – not the least of them the dramatic move from the world of medicine into that of literature when a novel ‘written despairingly on twopenny exercise books, thrown out and rescued from the rubbish heap’ was accepted by a publisher. And with Hatter’s Castle a new career was born.

Destiny brings two lonely people together in this moving love story by A J Cronin, one of the master story-tellers of our time. Dr Harvey Leith, brilliant research scientist, awakes from a drunken stupor to find himself aboard a liner bound for the romantic Canary Islands. His past life is in ruins, and his hopes for the future are shattered. But he meets the lovely Mary Fielding on the ship, also looking for a new purpose in her life. It seems to her that they have met somewhere before, in some other place, and that they are meant for each other. There is only one problem – she is already married. Dr Leith’s life becomes inextricably involved with those of the other passengers and he gradually begins to forget the bitterness of the past. In the sultry atmosphere of Grand Canary he finds he has to conquer himself to achieve happiness.

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.

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

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.

A. J. Cronin’s famous story is a soul-stirring novel of pride and greed, and its terrible retribution. When her father forced her to leave school, and cut off all her contact with the past and future, Mary Brodie’s whole life became the narrow compass of her family’s cold, comfortless house in a small Scottish town. Her mean and ambitious father tyrannised over his timid, obliging wife, his cowed, overworked younger daughter and his spineless son. Four people were held in Brodie’s merciless grip until, like a breath of the outside world Brodie so much despised, came the young Irishman in whom Mary found a forbidden freedom, and who brought to her mother and sister much needed release… In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Hatter’s Castle is a great book by a much-loved author.

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.

Three Loves is yet another Cronin masterpiece. A powerful and moving novel which draws the reader into a passionate and tragic world of intense relationships. Lucy Moore, a happy and loving wife, suddenly finds her family security shattered by the arrival of another woman. Although she weathers this storm, cruel Fate has a further twist of the knife for her. Yet she heroically pursues her search for a great love amid hardships which inspire any reader with real sympathy – a sympathy which deepens as Lucy moves towards her final and most tragic discovery. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, Three Loves is a great book by a much-loved author.