Skip to Main Content

About The Book

AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 'A GOOD READ'

'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

An American coming-of-age tale during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to the second world war.

Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete.

What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.

About The Author

John Knowles (1926–2001) was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University, as well as a recipient of the William Faulkner Award and the Rosenthal Award of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. His books include Separate PeacePeace Breaks Out, and The Paragon

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (August 14, 2014)
  • Length: 288 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781471139116

Browse Related Books

Raves and Reviews

'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

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images