A Separate Peace

Knowles drew on his own experiences at a New England boarding school in order to write this haunting story about the friendship between Gene and Finny. Effectively polar opposites and yet fiercely devoted to each other, Gene and Finny develop a rivalry that sustains each of them. Gene especially tries to emulate Finny's positive qualities to make himself better. But their friendship takes a dark turn as a result of a rash decision that Gene makes while the two are perched on a tree branch. The fallout and ensuing tragedy haunt Gene for the rest of his life. A Separate Peace is a stirring meditation on adolescence, masculinity, guilt, and friendship. 

Knowles's classic is an uneasy coming-of-age, set at a boys' boarding school among the desperately carefree 16-year-olds of 1942: too young, still, to be drafted into the war outside; too old to evade the responsibilities and the guilt that follows from the breaking of their fraught and fragile private bonds.

Secker & Warburg published the First UK Edition, First Printing hardcover in London, 1959. 

The Macmillan Company published the First US Edition, First Printing hardcover in New York, 1960. 

Collectors’ Reprint Inc published a First Edition Facsimile as part of the First Editions Library Collection in 1987. This edition was created to replicate the original First US printing, published in 1960. 

Scribner published a First Edition, Third Printing hardcover in New York, 1996.