Farewell to Eden

A sweeping, profound novel about faith in all its forms, and a rich portrait of an embattled post-World War II Britain, by one of the finest literary stylists working today.

Philip Deval, a soldier recently returned from the beaches of Normandy, arrives in Palestine on a peace-keeping mission in the final days of the British Mandate. The Sea of Galilee glitters in the distance as war-weary troops marvel at the novelty of oranges and sun—a paradise that belies a fierce new conflict about to erupt.

Some years later, Philip begins work teaching at a school in the English countryside and meets the enigmatic music mistress, Frances Darwood. Over long evenings spent listening to records in her music room, they grow close. But Philip is a changed man, and must confront the secrets and scars of all he has lived through—which threaten, even now, to upend his future.

Farewell to Eden asks the question: How, after great suffering, do we retain our humanity, learn to love again, and believe in the promise of a better life?