The Keys of the Kingdom Summary
A. J. Cronin

The Keys of the Kingdom Summary

In The Keys of the Kingdom Cronin is concerned with two main themes, one of which is a constant concern throughout his life and work, while the other was never to appear again with such fervor. The first is Cronin's concern for children who are ill-treated or neglected. As is often the case in Cronin's novels, children also have great potential intellectually and socially.

His protagonist, Francis Chisolm, is such a child, an orphan, and when he is removed from adverse conditions in which he is being raised, the reader sees Chisolm bloom into a bright youth who is full of unprejudiced compassion, a trait which his early hardships brought to him. Such a theme recurs in Cronin's works, as, for instance, in the character of Mary in Hatter's Castle (1931; see below).

The second theme is theological.

Francis becomes a priest, but from the...

(read more from the Short Guide)