The Separation

Christopher Priest
The Separation Cover

The Separation

DrNefario
11/8/2015
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Structurally, The Separation reminded me of Christopher Priest's earlier book, The Prestige. This is no bad thing, since The Prestige is one of my favourite books. The Separation is also a significant achievement, but for me it didn't quite match its predecessor in actual story.

Like Rhe Prestige, the book is composed of different accounts of the same historical events - kind of - with a framing story in the present. In this case, the accounts relate to (at least) two different versions of WW2, told through the stories of a pair of twins, one of whom becomes a bomber pilot and one of whom becomes a pacifist and an ambulance driver.

It's a great slice of history/alt-history, but I felt it lacked a bit of resolution, and I didn't quite see the point of the framing story, so it doesn't quite manage to supplant The Prestige in my affections. Well worth a read, though. 4/5