A J Cronin

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.

Hatter's Castle

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, he strives for humility and strength to follow the path he sees as the true one for himself and the Church. From the pen of the author of The Citadel, Hatter’s Castle, The Stars Look Down, Shannon’s Way and The Spanish Gardener comes this compelling tale of an ordinary man of the people.

The Keys of the Kingdom

When Mr Harrington Brande moves himself and his precious young son Nicholas to a grand house in the deserted Spanish town of San Jorge he is planning on a fresh start for the two of them. And only the two of them. For Mr Harrington Brande is a proud man and a jealous man. His beloved wife has recently fled his stifling love and now Brande has transferred all of his adoration onto Nicholas. He monitors his son’s every move and is obsessed with ensuring that the bond between them is stronger than ever. But history begins to repeat itself when Nicholas befriends the gardener José. José is like no one Nicholas has ever met before and he instantly holds him in high regard. Brande does not take too kindly to having to vie for his son’s attention with the Spanish gardener, and becomes increasingly suspicious of his rival. Encouraged by his butler, Garcia, Brande becomes convinced that José is not the person he pretends to be. Blinded by love and jealousy, how far will Brande go to secure his son’s affections? In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, The Spanish Gardener is a great book by a much-loved author.

The Spanish Gardener

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.

The Judas Tree

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.

Shannon's Way

A J Cronin was commissioned by The American Weekly to write a Christmas story for the December 21st issue in 1958. His vision for the story is described in his letter of acceptance: “It came to me very strongly that to achieve the highest and most profoundly touching results I should go back to the first Christmas of all and create a vivid reconstruction of the effects of the birth of the Child upon certain characters, notably the wife of the innkeeper where no room was found for Mary and Joseph. The title of the story would be The Innkeper’s Wife, for she, as I imagine her, is the central human character—a good and tender-hearted woman, childless herself, and bullied by an assertive and miserly husband.” Here now is the alternative story of Christmas, narrated with great skill, by the author of The Citadel, Hatter’s Castle and The Stars Look Down

A J Cronin

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