The Broken Place

Tom McClain returns from the Korean War carrying the psychological damage of combat and the burden of being celebrated as a hero after an attempted suicide was mistaken for courage. At twenty-one, he finds his former college life and the expectations of family and friends remote from the anger and dislocation that now govern him.

McClain travels in search of a life he can recognise, but only the controlled violence of boxing gives him a temporary sense of purpose. As his reputation in the ring grows, aggression becomes both livelihood and danger. A death during a bout and a punishing defeat force him to confront the trauma he has converted into violence and to decide whether survival can mean more than continuing to fight.