The Betrayal

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.