To say that [Dr. Cronin's] first novel ["Hatter's Castle"] is causing a sensation is putting it most mildly. He has been reviewed … almost in terms of hysteria. Wherever I go I find that his book is being read—not merely read, but devoured. People sit with their feet on the fender … and their noses in the page almost as they have not done since the days of Dickens.

And yet Dr. Cronin's novel can very easily be criticized. It will be criticized on every side. It will be said that it is imitative …, it will be said that it is old-fashioned, melodramatic and that the general catastrophe is far too thorough to be true. All these criticisms can be made with justice….

A(rchibald) J(oseph) Cronin 1896–1981 © Jerry Bauer

[The chief reason that] "Hatter's Castle" is having so sensational a career is that Dr. Cronin, in writing it...