![]() ![]() Some of the characters in the story do escape their past, whilst others come full circle – not everyone gets their just deserts! Davey dreams of becoming a teacher whilst Joe plans a less principled route to improve his lot – but both men’s lives are still inexorably bound to the mine and the lives of those who still live in Sleescale. Whilst Arthur lives a life of privilege, both Davey and Joe live in poor circumstances and have aspirations of escaping from the mine and making more of their lives. Set in fictional Sleescale, a mining town on the coast of Northumberland and in Tynecastle (which is, as the name suggests, based on Newcastle upon Tyne) The Stars Look Down focuses on three men from Sleescale – Davey Fenwick who works in the local Neptune pit with his father and brothers, Joe Gowlan who also works in the mine and Arthur Barras who is the son of the pit’s owner. He is probably most famous for creating Dr Finlay who featured in a TV series in the late 1960s (not that I’ve ever seen it, but I had heard of it!). A J Cronin was a doctor by trade and wrote his first novel after being prescribed six months’ bed rest following an illness. ![]()
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