The Sword of Justice (1953)

This is a reread for me. I'm thinking 40 years ago. But a memory of reading this has stayed with me.
It is the story of Paul, who has grown up believing his father died when he was 5 years old. He has lead a quiet, sheltered life with his mother who relied on the support of the local pastor and daughter and tended to shun friendships. He often chaffed at this restricted life but realised that he owed her a great deal for the sacrifices she had made to put him through university. It is when he expresses the need for his birth certificate to apply for a teaching position that he discovers the truth about his father. He is shocked and angry to learn that his father has been imprisoned for the past 15 years for murder. He sets off to visit him in prison to find that his father and other inmates are not allowed visitors. Frustrated he tries to learn all he can about the crime committed and in so doing begins to believe him to be innocent. He spends months in dire circumstances untangling the threads of the past and fighting the powers that be.
The part that I recalled from my first reading relates to his first meeting with his father and how the man he had become did not fit the image he held from childhood.
I enjoyed my reread of this novel and would be happy to read more of this author's work. He was a prolific writer as well as a Doctor of Medicine and creator of Dr Finlay form the television series Dr Finlay's Casebook. Another of his books inspired the movie Billy Elliot. ( )

A remarkable insight into the mind of Cronin and the way he obviously researched his books. This book was both gritty and gripping in its telling. The clear intent of the son and his determination, even close to death, to try and rid his father of a brutal crime which the son clearly felt he was not guilty.
The many steps he attempted to clear his father's name and the obvious ways at times in which he was expected to leave well alone made you become so involved in this drama that it was almost impossible to put the book down. So many of the negatives of human society - deceit, lies, selfishness, power at any cost, - which reached all the way to the top of the courts and of Parliament in Britain - are made to be revealed in all their ugliness that it gives you the shudders.
Cronin is not well-known enough today, sadly. This title along with other less known writings deserve to be published over again.
A darn good read. ( )

I liked for no good reason. It is a story of a father and son. Well, would like to write the details but in case anyone want to read this one - I will not spoil the fun. ( )