A Separate Peace

One of the great coming-of-age tales, now with a new introduction by Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam

‘Decades have passed since I first discovered A Separate Peace but its impact remains unforgettable. It's a deeply moving coming-of-age story, set against the backdrop of war’ M.L. Stedman, author of The Light Between Oceans

In the uncertain early years of the second world war, two boys collide at a prestigious New England boarding school. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. As they spiral into a fraught, intense friendship, a shocking act of violence will banish the innocence of these boys and their world forever.

An American modern classic and perennial bestseller, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence, and a haunting treatise on the horrors of war.

‘A model of restraint, deeply felt and beautifully written’ Observer

‘Exceptional power and distinction’ The Times

‘A quietly vital and cleanly written novel that moves, page by page, toward a most interesting target’ Truman Capote

‘A novel that made such a deep impression on me at sixteen that I can still conjure the atmosphere in my fifties: of yearning, infatuation mingled indistinguishably with envy, and remorse’ Lionel Shriver