What are A. J. Cronin’s Best Books? We looked at all of A. J. Cronin’s written bibliography and ranked them against one another to answer that very question!

We took all of the books written by A. J. Cronin and looked at their Goodreads, Library Thing, and Amazon review scores, ranking them against one another to see which books came out on top. The books are ranked in our list below based on which have the highest overall score between all 3 review sites in comparison with all of the other books by the same author. The process is all very scientific with no flaws at all.

The full ranking chart is also included below the countdown on the bottom of the page.

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The Top Book’s Of A. J. Cronin

28 ) The Minstrel Boy

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 27
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Desmonde Fitzgerald is handsome, charming and blessed with a marvellous singing voice – he is the Minstrel Boy. He becomes a priest, winning the coveted Golden Chalice for his singing when in seminary school abroad. But the duality of nature threatens to d

28 ) The Man Who Couldn’t Spend Money

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 27
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Originally serialized in Redbook magazine in 1946, “The Man Who Couldn’t Spend Money” is the warmly human and moving story of Joe Mardent, an orphan whose impoverished childhood instills in him a reluctance to spend-even after, through hard work and determ

28 ) The Innkeeper’s Wife

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 27
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

A J Cronin was commissioned by The American Weekly to write a Christmas story for the December 21st issue in 1958. His vision for the story is described in his letter of acceptance: “It came to me very strongly that to achieve the highest and most profound

28 ) Gracie Lindsay

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 27
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Gracie Lindsay’s return to Levenford arouses mixed feelings: to her uncle Daniel she is the daughter he never had; to David Murray she is the woman he still loves though he is now engaged to another; and to the townspeople she is the girl who seven years e

28 ) Crusader’s Tomb

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 27
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Knowing his father’s profoundest wish, that his son should succeed him as Rector of Stillwater, Stephen Desmonde tried to be worthy. But the siren call of art was too overwhelming; he felt driven as though by demons to pursue his vision of the world’s beau

27 ) Woman of the Earth

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 26
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

No wonder the Scotch countryside was interested in the schoolmaster’s pretty, new assistant. Twenty years before, her mother had left the place under a cloud. Is it true, the old saying, “Like father, like son”? Then must it also be true, they asked, Like

25 ) Lady with Carnations

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 24
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 17
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Lady with Carnations is not only the traditional name of a famous Holbein miniature which unexpectedly comes into a London salesroom in the mid-thirties: it is also the soubriquet by which some of her close friends think of the antique-dealer who buys it.

25 ) Grand Canary

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 25
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 16
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Destiny brings two lonely people together in this moving love story by A J Cronin, one of the master story-tellers of our time. Dr Harvey Leith, brilliant research scientist, awakes from a drunken stupor to find himself aboard a liner bound for the romanti

24 ) Hatters Castle

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 27
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 12

A.J. Cronin’s inspiring novel of a controversial Scottish priest on a mission in China, where he learns the true meaning of humanity—and of faith. Francis Chisholm—a kindhearted and straightforward Scottish priest—walks a path all his own, making him unpop

23 ) The Native Doctor

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 16
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal magazine (January 1960), THE NATIVE DOCTOR is A. J. Cronin’s romantic and thrilling tale of Dr. Robert Murray and Nurse Mary Benchley, who travel to a remote Caribbean island to care for a rich sugar planter whi

22 ) Three Stories

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 13
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Three rare novelettes by A. J. Cronin: MASCOT FOR UNCLE is the moving story of the special bond between “Uncle,” a would-be doctor whose object in life is to go to China as a medical missionary but who for 17 years is unable to pass his final exams, and “K

21 ) Three Loves

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 15
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 14
• Metacritc Critic Score: 17

Three Loves is yet another Cronin masterpiece. A powerful and moving novel which draws the reader into a passionate and tragic world of intense relationships. Lucy Moore, a happy and loving wife, suddenly finds her family security shattered by the arrival

20 ) The Spanish Gardener

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 20
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 11
• Metacritc Critic Score: 14

When Mr Harrington Brande moves himself and his precious young son Nicholas to a grand house in the deserted Spanish town of San Jorge he is planning on a fresh start for the two of them. And only the two of them. For Mr Harrington Brande is a proud man an

19 ) Vigil in the Night

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 21
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
• Metacritc Critic Score: 8

Tale of two nurses, Anne, who takes the blame for her sister, also a nurse, who causes the death of a young patient.

18 ) Enchanted Snow

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 23
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 1
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Originally published in Redbook magazine (January 1940), ENCHANTED SNOW is A. J. Cronin’s romantic and thrilling tale of Lewis Merrid, a young American shipping company owner, who, while traveling by train to Vienna, becomes irresistibly attracted to pale,

17 ) The Northern Light

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 19
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 13
• Metacritc Critic Score: 9

Henry Page, owner of The Northern Light, the oldest and most respected newspaper in Tynecastle, is offered a vast sum to turn over control to a mass-circulation group based in London. He refuses – despite entreaties by his wife to accept – and so begins hi

16 ) Escape from Fear

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 4
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

Originally published in serial form in Collier’s magazine in 1954, ESCAPE FROM FEAR is A. J. Cronin’s thrilling tale of a young American engineer in Austria who crosses over into the Russian Zone on business and becomes entangled with the Soviet secret pol

11 ) The Judas Tree

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 16
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 8
• Metacritc Critic Score: 14

In a story of wide and fascinating detail A. J. Cronin tells of Dr. David Morey who tries to atone for his desertion of the woman he loved. Beguiled by the prospect of riches he goes on to marry Dottie, a spoiled but beautiful neurotic who brings him almos

11 ) Dr Finlay’s Casebook

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 22
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 2
• Metacritc Critic Score: 14

Dr Finlay’s Casebook is a delightful collection of episodic stories of Dr Finlay and his life in the fictional Scottish village of Tannochbrae during the inter-war years and based on A.J. Cronin’s own experiences as a doctor. The BBC went on to dramatise t

11 ) Child of Compassion

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 2
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

“They stood staring at Susan’s face in shocked bewilderment and horror. They hadn’t expected this-oh, not this!” Originally published in Redbook magazine (June 1940), CHILD OF COMPASSION is A. J. Cronin’s poignant and moving story of a compassionate young

11 ) Adventures of a Young Doctor

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 2
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

In 1951 Collier’s magazine published “Adventures of a Young Doctor,” a series of six articles in which Scottish writer/physician A. J. Cronin, bestselling author of “The Citadel,” chronicles his experiences-some heartwarming, some thrilling, some humorous-

11 ) A Song of Sixpence

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 18
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 9
• Metacritc Critic Score: 11

Story of a senstivie Catholic boy growing up in a Scottish community at the turn of the 20th century.

10 ) Further Adventures of a Country Doctor

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 1
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 18

In May 1935, in the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine (Hearst’s International Combined with Cosmopolitan), A. J. Cronin published the novelette -Country Doctor, – an affectionate look at young Finlay Hyslop, a newly qualified Scottish doctor who assists a sea

9 ) Shannon’s Way

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 14
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 10
• Metacritc Critic Score: 12

Robert Shannon was a devoted scientist on the brink of a medical discovery of great importance. He had no time or inclination for women . . . or for any of the world outside his laboratory. But Jean Law had other plans for him. Strictly brought up by narro

8 ) Country Doctor

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 11
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 6

Originally published in Hearst’s International-Cosmopolitan magazine (May 1935), COUNTRY DOCTOR is A. J. Cronin’s affectionate look at young Finlay Hyslop, a newly qualified Scottish doctor who assists a seasoned country GP in managing a variety of medical

7 ) Beyond This Place

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 10
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 12
• Metacritc Critic Score: 3

Paul Mathry, a student about to graduate and embark upon a teaching career, finds out that his father was convicted for murder, a secret that his mother had hidden from him since his childhood. Driven by an intense desire to see his father, Paul sets out t

6 ) Novelettes and Short Stories of A. J. Cronin

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 5
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 18
• Metacritc Critic Score: 1

Scottish novelist and physician A. J. Cronin (1896-1981), author of “The Citadel,” was one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century. With his keen understanding of the human condition, his deep moral conscience and his extraordinary narrative s

5 ) The Catidel

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 5
• Metacritc Critic Score: 9

4 ) The Stars Look Down

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 7
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 7
• Metacritc Critic Score: 6

This thought-provoking novel of the challenges a coal mining community faces in the early twentieth century is “the finest work Cronin has given his public.” (Kirkus Reviews) First published in 1935, The Stars Look Down tells the story of a North Country m

3 ) Adventures in Two Worlds

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 9
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 6
• Metacritc Critic Score: 3

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 direct

2 ) The Green Years

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 11
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 3
• Metacritc Critic Score: 2

Originally published in 1945, The Green Years is one of A J Cronin’s best-loved novels. It tells the story of Robert Shannon, a young Irish Catholic boy, who, orphaned at the age of seven, is brought to live with his mother’s estranged family in Scotland.

1 ) The Keys of the Kingdom

Review Website Ranks:

• Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 6
• Rotten Tomatoes Users: 4
• Metacritc Critic Score: 3

A.J. Cronin’s inspiring novel of a controversial Scottish priest on a mission in China, where he learns the true meaning of humanity—and of faith. Francis Chisholm—a kindhearted and straightforward Scottish priest—walks a path all his own, making him unpop

A. J. Cronin’s Best Books

A. J. CroninReview Website Bibliography Rankings