Book Description

A “magnificent, brave, tender” novel of post-WWII Russia from the author of The Siege—shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (The Independent on Sunday). Leningrad 1952. Andrei, a young doctor, and Anna, a nursery school teacher, have forged a life together in the postwar, post-siege wreckage. But they know their happiness is precarious, like that of millions of Russians who must avoid the claws of Stalin’s merciless Ministry of State Security. When Andrei is forced to treat the sick child of a senior secret police officer, his every move is scrutinized, making it painfully clear that his own fate—and that of his family—is bound to the child’s. Trapped in an impossible game of life and death, Andrei and Anna must avoid the whispers and watchful eyes of those who will say and do anything to save themselves . . . With The Betrayal, internationally acclaimed author Helen Dunmore “vividly depicts the difficulty of living by principle in a tyrannical society, in which paranoia infects every act, and even ordinary citizens become instruments of terror” (The New Yorker). “An emotionally charged thriller, The Betrayal unfolds breathlessly and with great skill. . . . You don’t want to put it down. . . . Elegant yet devastating.” —The Seattle Times “With precise period detail and astute psychological insight, Dunmore brings the last months of Stalin’s reign to life and reminds us why some eras shouldn’t be forgotten.” —Publishers Weekly