Beyond This Place

infobox Book |
name = Beyond This Place


author = A. J. Cronin
cover_artist =
country = UK
language = English
genre = Novel
publisher = Gollancz UK
Little, Brown USA
release_date = 1953
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 304 pp. (UK hardback edition)
isbn = 0-575-00618-8 (UK hardback edition)

"Beyond This Place" is a 1953 novel by Scottish author, A. J. Cronin. The novel has been adapted for both film and television. A Bollywood version, "Kalapani" (1958), was directed by Raj Khosla and starred Dev Anand and Madhubala. The British film version (1959) was directed by Jack Cardiff and featured Van Johnson and Vera Miles. A television adaptation was broadcast on CBS in 1957, and was produced by David Susskind and directed by Sidney Lumet. It starred Farley Granger, Peggy Ann Garner, Torin Thatcher, Brian Donlevy, and Shelley Winters. A Tollywood version, "Pula Rangadu" (1967), loosely based on the novel, was directed by Adurthi Subba Rao and starred ANR and Jamuna.

Plot summary

Paul Mathry, a student about to graduate and embark upon a teaching career, finds out that his father was convicted for murder, a secret that his mother had hidden from him since his childhood.

Driven by an intense desire to see his father, Paul sets out to visit him in prison, only to find out that visitors are never allowed there.

From there, he meets the primary witnesses in the case that convicted his father, not all of whom are supportive to Paul's cause. He encounters several dead ends but he persists, with the help of a store girl named Lana and a news reporter.

His persistent campaign finally bears fruit. Rees Mathry, Paul's father, goes on appeal and is vindicated. The novel ends with Paul's father, a hardened, cynical man, seeing a fleeting hope for self-renewal and a purposeful life.