A good story of injustice and corruption in the judicial in Great Britian. ( )

Cronin consistently writes good stories, and he tells them well. He's not the best writer out there, but you always know you'll be reading a good book with him. This one is no exception. Halfway through you think you know how the story is going to turn out, then he surprises you by taking the story in the right, although unexpected, direction. Then he does the same thing with the ending. I always enjoy his books. ( )

Beyond This Place by A. J. Cronin
3 stars
Beyond This Place a 1953 novel by Scottish author A. J. Cronin spent several weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List. While A. J. Cronin is considered a good author, critics have criticized this book as not his best. This was an easy to read story of a young man just ready to head to college who discovers that his father is not dead but actually in prison. As he tries to learn about his father, he discovers that there was gross injustice that resulted in his father spending 15 years in prison. This book has such themes as crooked legal officials and the social statement against the death sentence and the unfairness of the legal system to the poor. It is the story of one man’s fight against the system. It has no sex, unrequited love and a hopeful ending.

I believe this book represented some of the political and social themes that were emerging during the fifties. If this book was correct, hanging people for offenses was quite common in Ireland. It also comments on religion and questions the importance of religion and stereotypes the religious figures as hypocritical. Since it is set in Belfast it also has some brief comments on Catholic and Calvinist. Women are presented as becoming somewhat independent but still needing to practice caution in regards to their reputations and as supporting rolls for the men. ( )

This is a reread for me. I'm thinking 40 years ago. But a memory of reading this has stayed with me.
It is the story of Paul, who has grown up believing his father died when he was 5 years old. He has lead a quiet, sheltered life with his mother who relied on the support of the local pastor and daughter and tended to shun friendships. He often chaffed at this restricted life but realised that he owed her a great deal for the sacrifices she had made to put him through university. It is when he expresses the need for his birth certificate to apply for a teaching position that he discovers the truth about his father. He is shocked and angry to learn that his father has been imprisoned for the past 15 years for murder. He sets off to visit him in prison to find that his father and other inmates are not allowed visitors. Frustrated he tries to learn all he can about the crime committed and in so doing begins to believe him to be innocent. He spends months in dire circumstances untangling the threads of the past and fighting the powers that be.
The part that I recalled from my first reading relates to his first meeting with his father and how the man he had become did not fit the image he held from childhood.
I enjoyed my reread of this novel and would be happy to read more of this author's work. He was a prolific writer as well as a Doctor of Medicine and creator of Dr Finlay form the television series Dr Finlay's Casebook. Another of his books inspired the movie Billy Elliot. ( )

A remarkable insight into the mind of Cronin and the way he obviously researched his books. This book was both gritty and gripping in its telling. The clear intent of the son and his determination, even close to death, to try and rid his father of a brutal crime which the son clearly felt he was not guilty.
The many steps he attempted to clear his father's name and the obvious ways at times in which he was expected to leave well alone made you become so involved in this drama that it was almost impossible to put the book down. So many of the negatives of human society - deceit, lies, selfishness, power at any cost, - which reached all the way to the top of the courts and of Parliament in Britain - are made to be revealed in all their ugliness that it gives you the shudders.
Cronin is not well-known enough today, sadly. This title along with other less known writings deserve to be published over again.
A darn good read. ( )