John Knowles wrote American fiction best known for A Separate Peace. Set at a New England boarding school during the Second World War, the novel follows Gene Forrester's friendship with the charismatic athlete Phineas and the guilt surrounding an accident that changes both their lives. The school remains physically distant from the battlefield, but the approaching war shapes how the boys understand competition, fear and adulthood. Knowles wrote other novels, yet A Separate Peace remains the defining entry point to his work. His prose is restrained and reflective, fitting boarding-school fiction, coming-of-age literature and wartime American classics where the central conflict is psychological rather than military. Read more Less
No products in the cart.