Helen Dunmore’s gripping thriller evokes a land ruled by whispers and watchfulness, where betrayal can come from those closest to you.

Leningrad in 1952: a city recovering from war. Andrei, a young hospital doctor, and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are forging a life together. Stalin is still in power, and the Ministry for State Security has new targets in its sights. When Andrei has to treat the seriously ill child of a senior secret police officer, he finds himself and his family caught in an impossible game of life and death.

Longlisted
The Man Booker Prize 2010
Published by
Fig Tree
Publication date
Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore

About the Author

Helen Dunmore, a prolific poet, novelist and writer for children and young adults, died of cancer at 64 in 2017. Her last collection of poetry won the Costa Poetry award posthumously.   
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