The Stars Look Down

The Stars Look Down was A. J. Cronin's fourth novel, a favourite amongst generations of his readers.

Following a North country mining family, it is remembered as a classic of its age. Robert Fenwick is a miner, and so are his three sons. His wife is proud that all her four men go down the mines.

But David, the youngest, is determined that somehow he will educate himself and work to ameliorate the lives of his comrades who ruin their health to dig the nation's coal.

It is, perhaps, a typical tale of the era in which it was written. There were many novels about coal mining in the 1930s, but Cronin, a doctor turned author, had a gift for storytelling, and in his time wrote several very popular and successful novels.

Originally published in 1935, "The Stars Look Down" is a bold, righteous story of injustice from the author of "The Citadel." A classic of political storytelling, it has been adapted for the screen by Carol Reed, the Academy Award-winning director of "The Third Man" and "Oliver!"