Adventures in Two Worlds

Description

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.

Born in Cardross, Scotland, AJ Cronin studied at the University of Glasgow. In 1916 he served as a surgeon sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteers Reserve, and at the war's end he completed his medical studies and practiced in South Wales. He was later appointed to the Ministry of Mines, studying the medical problems of the mining industry. He later moved to London and built up a successful practice in the West End. In 1931 he published his first book, Hatter's Castle, which was compared with the work of Dickens, Hardy and Balzac, winning him critical acclaim. Other books by AJ Cronin include: The Citadel, Three Loves, The Green Years, Beyond This Place, The Keys of the Kingdom.