Follow young Oliver''s rebellious coming-of-age in the village of Stillbourne in this comic novel by the radical Nobel Laureate and author of Lord of the Flies, introduced by Penelope Lively.

Eighteen is a good time for suffering

Welcome to the country town of Stillbourne. Restless teenage resident Oliver wants to enjoy himself before going to university, beginning with his pursuit of the Town Crier''s daughter.

But in this claustrophobic community - stifled by the English class system, and where everybody knows everyone''s business - love, lust and rebellion are closely followed by revenge and embarrassment . . .

''The great unbreakable wild horse of the 1960s British literary stable.'' Rose Tremain

''A triumph of economy and pungent effect; a brilliant insight into the social rigidity of English provincial life ... A scathing, funny, occasionally tragic revenge on a time and a place.'' Penelope Lively

''Golding depicts with subtle skill all the pains of growing up and growing old. He treats us to some superb comic episodes.'' Daily Telegraph

''Golding''s most approachable novel and a curiously personal one, that returns to the mind again and again as if the shames and idylls were one''s own.'' Guardian

''Neatly drawn, funny and touching . . . The snap, the tang, and the tension in Golding''s prose is always a pleasure.'' Harper''s