First published 1976
November 1918. In the damp woods near Compiegne, three railway carriages sit waiting. The Great War bleeds toward its end, and representatives from both sides must hammer out the terms of armistice. The victorious Allied delegates arrive with their demands. The defeated German delegation comes bearing the weight of a crumbling empire. Inside these makeshift negotiating rooms, exhausted men face each other across tables that will determine the fate of millions. Each carries the rigid burden of his nation's expectations. Each remains locked within his own certainties and blind spots. As the talks drag on, these representatives discover that ending a war requires more than signatures on documents. The forest holds its secrets while history pivots on the words these weary negotiators exchange in their isolated railway cars.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, historical-fiction
Setting: Compiegne, France
Period: November 1918
220 pages · Hardcover · Harcourt Brace Jovanovich