The Northern Light by A. J. Cronin (1958)

The Northern Light
by A. J. Cronin
Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company
Copyright:  1958
Book Club Edition

In his new novel A. J. Cronin has returned to the dominant theme of all his major works:  the story of a true hero, a dedicated man who struggles against enormous odds to maintain his faith, his integrity, indeed his very life.

In The Keys to the Kingdom, it was a man of God; in The Citadel, a physician; in A Thing of Beauty, an artist.  Now, in The Northern Light, the hero is editor and publisher of a small-town newspaper who is fighting for his paper, his family and his community against ruthless monopoly that would undo all his life's work.

Dr. Cronin's hero could not be more timely, for in our country, as in England, the issue of a free press is a dominant one.  Henry Page's courageous stand for his small-town paper, the Nothern Light, in defiance of the great press lords of London is true of all independent newspapermen everywhere.

Henry Page was a man who believed in the greatness of his country, and who tried to make the Northern Lighta force for good in the lives of its readers.  When the head of a powerful newspaper syndicate offered to buy his paper, he was perplexed.  Why should the owner of the Gazette, a sex and scandal sheet with a circulation in the millions, be interested in a provincial newspaper?

He was soon to learn why.  For his refusal to sell out precipitated a desperate struggle to defend not only his property, but his beliefs and the lives of the people he cherished.  It was to drag him through a public battle which would lay bare his innermost secrets, and those of his family.

In his portrayal of a gentle and good man driven almost to madness in the unequal struggle, Dr. Cronin has achieved the crowning triumph of his career.  He presents the people who are involved in Henry Page's battle in a warm and human light -- Cora, a "common" girl with a loving heart, who is trying to forget the shameful secret in her past; her brilliant husband, David, haunted by his own fears; and Henry's wife, Alice, afraid that she will lose her home and her position.  Set against these helpless people are Henry's merciless adveraries, henchmen of the unseen power in London, but powerful in their own right.

As Henry Page struggles for his integrity and his life against the terrible pressures that are brought to bear on him, the reader is caught up in his stubborn refusal to accept defeat.  And as the tension rises, the reader is swept along on a rushing tide of emotions and events, rising to a breathtaking climax of the kind that only Dr. Cronin can create.

Condition:  Used.  Hardcover.  Dust cover is discolored and shows wear, creasing and tears in the edges.  Pages are tanned from age.  Previous owner's name is blacked out on the front endpaper with date written underneath.  There's an envelope pasted to the front endpaper as a way to keep track of her books.

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