A powerful and touching novel of ordinary people in the grip of a terrible and sinister regime, and a moving portrait of a love that will not be extinguished.Leningrad, 1952. Andrei, a young hospital doctor and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are forging a life together in the post-war, post-siege wreckage. But their happiness is precarious, like that of millions of Russians who must avoid the claws of Stalin’s merciless Ministry for State security. So when Andrei is asked to treat the seriously ill child of a senior secret police officer, he and Anna are fearful. Trapped in an impossible, maybe unwinnable game, can they avoid the whispers and watchful eyes of those who will say or do anything to save themselves?’Beautifully crafted, gripping, moving, enlightening. Sure to be one of the best historical novels of the year’ Time Out’Scrupulous, pitch-perfect. With heart-pounding force, Dunmore builds up a double narrative of suspense’ Sunday Times’Magnificent, brave, tender . . . with a unique gift for immersing the reader in the taste, smell and fear of a story’ Independent on Sunday