The Citadel (novel)
The Citadel is a
novel by
A. J. Cronin, first published in
1937 (in Britain by
Victor Gollancz Ltd., July, and in the US by
Little, Brown & Co., September), turned into a 1938
film, with at least one American (1960) and another
BBC (1983)
television adaptation (the BBC series was broadcast on PBS the next year, as a
Masterpiece Theatre presentation).
The book tells the story of a young, idealistic Scottish doctor, Andrew Manson, whose first job is in an industrial
South Wales valley town. Shocked by the conditions, he works to improve matters and meets and marries Christine, a school teacher. They later move to London, where he works for a government department before going into private practice.
Manson becomes seduced by the thought of easy money from wealthy clients, rather than the good works that he originally set out to do. He becomes involved with pampered private patients and fashionable surgeons, until a patient dies through a surgeon's incompetence. He accuses the surgeon of murder, and as revenge, he is reported to the Medical Council for having worked with a nature cure practitioner, even though the patient he had worked with had been cured.
His wife dies in a road accident, but he manages to justify his actions satisfactorily to the hearing.
Manson decides to join two friends in opening a new practice in a quiet country town.
For the story, Cronin drew on his own experiences as a doctor in the industrial valleys of South Wales.
*
Publication History of The Citadel in 20thC American Bestsellers database
