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. ...

The Keys of the Kingdom is the unforgettable story of the Reverend Francis Chisholm and his fight against the snares of the world he has given up . . . his forbidden attraction to women . . . his struggle with his superiors . . .One of Cronin’s most famous characters, we follow Chisholm from Scotland to China over the course of six decades as he tries to find the true path for himself and the church. Guided by humility and strength, courage and kindness, Chisholm must over...

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 prac...

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 anx...

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 tyrannized over his timid, obliging wife, his cowed, overworked younger daughter and his spineless son. Four people were held in Brodie’s mer...

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...

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 ...

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 an...

Henry Page, owner of The Northern Light, the oldest and most respected newspaper in Tynecastle, is offered a vast sum to turn over control to a mass-circulation group based in London. He refuses – despite entreaties by his wife to accept – and so begins his fight with the Chronicle, an almost defunct newspaper in the same area which is given new life by London-thinking and London men.Against Henry Page, a journalist who believes in honest presentation of news without bring...

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 ...

An epic BBC radio drama series set in the Welsh valleys, about medical life before the NHSBased on AJ Cronin’s award-winning 1937 novel of the same name, which partly inspired Nye Bevan to create the NHS, this gripping dramatisation centres on Andrew Manson, a newly trained GP in 1920s Wales.Young and idealistic, he is full of enthusiasm when he first arrives in the small mining village of Drineffy, where he is to work as assistant to the elderly Dr Page. B...

The poignant sequel to A Song of SixpenceThe 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 fr...