The Good Soldier

"It is as impossible to miss the light of its extreme beauty and wisdom as it would be to miss the full moon on a clear night." —Rebecca West

"A masterpiece." —Julian Barnes

"I don’t know how many times in nearly forty years I have come back to this novel." —Graham Greene


“A Tale of Passion,” as its subtitle declares, “The Good Soldier” relates the complex social and sexual relationships between two couples, one English, one American, and the growing awareness by the American narrator John Dowell of the intrigues and passions behind their orderly Edwardian facade. It is the attitude of Dowell, his puzzlement, uncertainty, and the seemingly haphazard manner of his narration that make the book so powerful and mysterious. Despite its catalogue of death, insanity, and despair, the novel has many comic moments, and has inspired the work of several distinguished writers, including Graham Greene.