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In the heat of late afternoon, a young boy waits at the station for his father. A plume of steam, white against the purple-heathered hills, marks the train. Beyond, blooming along the shoreline, the flowers of high summer, as a tall-funnelled paddle steamer beats and froths down the wide Clyde estuary . . . A narrative in the great Cronin tradition, this is the stirring chronicle of Laurence Carroll as he grows from childhood to adult years in Scotland. The tale of his struggles - early show more illness, a widowed mother, poverty, the uncles who try to help him, and the women who have such an unhappy effect upon him, is told with warm humour and with that intense and sympathetic realism for which A J Cronin is known. In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin's other classic novels, A Song of Sixpence is a great book by a much-loved author. show lessTags
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Song of Sixpence is a coming of age story set in Scotland early in the 20th century. Laurence Carroll grows up, sort of always on the outside, his father being Irish Catholic, and people in their community treating them a bit like pariahs. At times, when the opportunity for social advancement arose, he would shun the few friends he had out of shame and embarrassment, only to find it was not worth it. Life takes some rough turns, as when his father died from galloping consumption, or when his and his mother's benefactor had institutionalized for insanity. He believed all of his dreams of the future were dashed. He was often very naive, and would be taken in by less than scrupulous people, but it all works out in the end.
I did enjoy show more reading this older book (published 1964) and could understand his choices in spite of wanting to draw him aside and say "Look here Laurie, that is not the smartest decision", but I imagine in the past, some of my elders thought the same about some of my poor judgements. show less
I did enjoy show more reading this older book (published 1964) and could understand his choices in spite of wanting to draw him aside and say "Look here Laurie, that is not the smartest decision", but I imagine in the past, some of my elders thought the same about some of my poor judgements. show less
A coming of age book of a young man coming of age near Glasgow in Scotland. Semi-autobiographical, as Cronin grew up there and was also studying to be a doctor. It is novel where you can travel back in time.
Una novela que narra la vida de Laurence Carroll desde su niñez hasta la graduación en medicina y el inicio de su práctica. Se enfoca en el crecimiento personal y profesional del protagonista, que es el elemento central de la obra.
Sep 1, 2025Spanish
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127+ Works 6,584 Members
A.J. (Archibald Joseph) Cronin was born in Cardross, Scotland on July 19, 1896. He was educated at the University of Glasgow Medical School and served as a surgeon in the Royal Navy during World War I. After the war, he investigated occupational diseases in the coal industry and worked as a general practitioner in Wales and London. His first show more novel, Hatter's Castle, written in 1931, was an immediate success, and Cronin gave up the practice of medicine to become a full-time author. Hatter's Castle was adapted into a film in 1941. His other works include Shannon's Way, The Judas Tree, A Song of Sixpence, and A Thing of Beauty. He drew on his medical background in writing his books, and his most popular character was Doctor Finlay, which provided the background for the television series, Doctor Finlay's Casebook. Many of his books were made into films including The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom, and The Green Years. He died on January 6, 1981. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- A Song of Sixpence
- Original title
- A Song of Sixpence
- Original publication date
- 1964
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- Members
- 276
- Popularity
- 116,460
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.78)
- Languages
- 9 — English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 18




























































