A review by cubanpete
The Citadel by A.J. Cronin

This novel has two claims to fame. One, it ostensibly inspired the founding of the NHS. Two, it turned my partner into a die-hard leftie at a tender age. It fails both as a simple story about a doctor's life and as a romance. In 2022, his

Damascean conversion with no real understanding or acknowledgement about what he had put his wife through

is unconvincing. However, the insider look at the state of healthcare pre-NHS is exciting and harrowing. As a side note, I was shocked to learn that an induced pneumothorax was a real thing. I'd encountered in Mann's Magic Mountain and had thought it was just a gruesome invention. Now that I've learned...I cannot unlearn.