It’s the haunting story of a disabled painter who lives in a lighthouse and the girl who brings him a wounded animal. The Snow Goose, by Paul Gallico, is the novel most deserving of rediscovery, according to a BBC poll.

The wartime novella was the clear winner in a search to identify literature’s most neglected novel, conducted by the Open Book programme presented by Mariella Frostrup on Radio 4.

Howard Jacobson and Joanna Trollope were among ten authors who lobbied for their forgotten classic on the programme, prompting thousands of listeners to respond.

Gallico, from New York, who wrote The Snow Goose in 1940, triumphed ahead of contenders including Samuel Johnson and Patricia Highsmith. However, listeners also responded with their own suggestions, proposing more than 500 titles they believe should also receive the exposure of a Radio 4 Classic Serial adaptation.

The novels proposed included Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724) by Daniel Defoe and lesser-known works by Margaret Atwood and J.G. Ballard.

The most frequently mentioned title was a surprise: Precious Bane (1924), the rural Shropshire novel by Mary Webb. The book was lampooned by Stella Gibbons in Cold Comfort Farm, which itself was one of several Gibbons novels to be nominated.

A close second in number of public nominations was the Clayhanger novels (1910-1918), by Arnold Bennett, set in the Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent.

The BBC said that it would consider the listener suggestions for future dramatisations but The Snow Goose will be first to go into production next year.

Unashamedly sentimental, the story of friendship and love set against the backdrop of the Second World War has made an impression on generations of children. A young girl brings a wounded snow goose to Rhayader, a hunchback artist living in an abandoned lighthouse in the marshlands of Essex because of his disabilities.

The goose heals and a friendship develops between Rhayader and the girl, whose true feelings emerge when the lighthouse dweller embarks on a fateful boat trip to rescue soldiers trapped on Dunkirk beach.

Michael Morpurgo, the leading children’s author, made the radio case for The Snow Goose. He said: “I still have the copy with my 13-year-old handwriting in it. It is an epic story told in a very few words. I am pleased it has won because the short story has been a neglected form.”

He added: “It is a beautiful description of extraordinary affection between two people without that becoming a full-blown love affair.”

Morpurgo, a former Children’s Laureate, said that the novel had been an influence on War Horse, his story about the fate of animals who served on the front line in the First World War, which was turned into a hit National Theatre production.

He admitted that The Snow Goose may have had a head start in the poll. “It is not quite as abandoned a book as some others in the poll. There was a television film [in 1971] with Jenny Agutter, which I think made an impression on many people.”

The Snow Goose finished ahead of Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope, with The Rector’s Daughter, by F.M. Mayor third choice in the BBC vote.

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