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