Mechanically, watching the land disappear into the sea, the word Finstère came to mind. Finis-terre. Land's End. From here it really looked it . . . it was the end of Brittany, the end of France. The end of the earth. . . .

A lyrical gay coming-of-age story first published in 1951, acclaimed by many including Gore Vidal and The New York Times, about Matthew, a young American who moves to France with his mother following his parents' divorce. In boarding school and on trips with his mother into the countryside, Matthew navigates his budding sexuality and complicated new relationships with trepidation and hardship until he is forced to confront finistère?land's end?where the brutal truths of the world can be found.

Finstère was a profound achievement in the early years of the 1950s, and sold over 350,000 copies. This new edition, which returns this beautiful book to print, includes an appendix of historical materials about the book and author, as well as an introduction by Michael Bronski, author of such books as Culture Clash, The Pleasure Principle, and Pulp Friction.

Fritz Peters was a novelist and writer of books on philosophy; his novels included The World Next Door (1949), The Descent (1952), and Blind Flight (1966). He lived mostly in New York City, but eventually moved to New Mexico, where he died in 1979.

Fritz Peters' profile page

Michael Bronski's books include Culture Clash, The Pleasure Principle, and Pulp Friction; he also wrote the introduction to the first Little Sister's Classic, Song of the Loon by Richard Amory, as well as to Finistere by Fritz Peters. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Michael Bronski's profile page

Michael Bronski's introduction does a terrific job of placing the story in a context that is as meaningful now as it was fifty years ago.
?Echo Magazine

Echo Magazine

At this moment in our social history, it is difficult for most American authors to write a novel about a homosexual affair without making either a tract or an apologia. Mr. Peters has done neither. Instead, he has kept resolutely in focus his great theme: the corruption and murder of innocence.
?Gore Vidal, The Saturday Review

Gore Vidal, Sat. Rev

The best novel this reviewer has ever read on the theme of homosexuality.
?The New York Times

New York Times