The Stars Look Down was A.J. Cronin's fourth novel, published in 1935, and this tale of a North country mining family was a great favourite with his readers. Robert Fenwick is a miner, and so are his three sons. His wife is proud that all her four men go down the mines. But David, the youngest, is determined that somehow he will educate himself and work to ameliorate the lives of his comrades who ruin their health to dig the nation's coal. It is, perhaps, a typical tale of the era in which it was written --there were many novels about coal mining, But Cronin, a doctor turned author, had a gift for storytelling, and in his time wrote several very popular and successful novels.
Norman Wymer Books






The Citadel
- 144 pages
- 6 hours of reading
Penguin Readers is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language. Many titles in the series also provide access to the pre-20th century literature strands of the National Curriculum English Orders.
Sense and Sensibility: Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
When Elinor and Marianne Dashwood and their mother are unfairly swindled out of their family inheritance they are forced to leave the family home in Norwood and move to Barton Cottage in Devonshire. The two sisters are soon accepted into their new society. Marianne falls for the roguish charms of John Willoughby while Elinor still mourns the loss of Edward Ferrars whom she had left behind. Despite their very different personalities, both sisters experience great sorrows in their affairs, Marianne demonstrably wretched and Elinor allowing no-one to see her private heartache. Yet it is the qualities common to them both - discernment, constancy and integrity in the face of the fecklessness of others - that allow them entry into a new life.
Oliver Twist
- 128 pages
- 5 hours of reading
London in the 1830s was no place to be if you were a hungry ten-year-old boy, an orphan without friends or family, with no home to go to, and only a penny in your pocket to buy a piece of bread. But Oliver Twist finds some friends - Fagin, the Artful Dodger, and Charley Bates. They give him food and shelter, and play games with him, but it is not until some days later that Oliver finds out what kind of friends they are and what kind of 'games' they play ...
David Copperfield
- 104 pages
- 4 hours of reading
[Longman Structural Readers Stage 3] David Copperfield's happy life suddenly changes when his mother marries again. Her new husband, Mr Murdstone, does not like David at all. He is cruel to him and then sends him away to school. Here David makes friends, but he is unhappy. When David is ten, his mother dies and Mr Murdstone sends him to work in London. David hates his job so he decides to run away to his father's aunt. He starts his journey with no money for the coach or for food. But his life of adventure, love and friendship has begun.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- 64 pages
- 3 hours of reading
A humane scientist attempts to explore the most loathsome forces of evil behind the doors of his London laboratory, in a controlled-vocabulary adaptation of Stevenson's classic tale.
Longman Structural Readers - Stage 6 Contents:1. James Bond in the Forest2. For Your Eyes Only3. The Air Hostess4. A Risky Business5. The Rare FishFirst published in this edition 1973New impression 1974
Man Against Space
- 112 pages
- 4 hours of reading
Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde
- 64 pages
- 3 hours of reading



