Any bookworm can tell you that there are times when you simply fall in love with an Author. You read one book and it so fits your idea of what a book should be that you must then read every book by that author that you can find. What pleases you will change as you mature, but some of the earliest favorites will stay with you for life. You have all been treated to my adoration for Louisa May Alcott from my earliest years, but today is an author discovered in my early teens. He wrapped up many of my passions in one early book and from then on you could have named him Saint instead of Doctor and I would have agreed.
The author was A. J. Cronin and the book was "Keys Of the Kingdom". It is simply a wonderful story of a Scottish doctor who becomes a priest is sent to China as a young man and deals with the hardships physical, political and spiritual for the rest of his life.
If you have never read any of A. J. Cronin's work and particularly The Keys of the Kingdom, take the time to read the reviews just before pushing the "Add To Cart" button for either the Book or the movie starring Gregory Peck as Father Francis Chisholm. Once you have caught the addiction you can then go back for all the books (more than 25), the movies (The Citadel among many others) and the TV Series (Dr. Finlay on BBC) that grew out of them.
A. J. Cronin may seem a shade old fashioned now since the majority of his work was published between the later 30s and the early 60s until you realize that he just told wonderful stories of the human condition that are still applicable today.
