London,
1960. Simon and his wife Lily lead an average, rather boring life with their
three children. He is a civil servant at the Admiralty, but albeit the Cold War
is at a critical point, he is hardly affected by it due to lack of ambition.
One evening, he gets a call from his old friend Giles who helped him to get his
job. Giles had an accident and urgently needs Simon’s help. When the later
learns what he has got to do, he is not especially happy about but, but far
from guessing what this evening and the favour for a friend will make of his
and his family’s life.
A very
uncommon spy novel set in the middle of the Cold War. What we get here is a
collection of individuals who are all very specific in their behaviour and
motives which makes the novel very interesting. It is especially the wife, at
the first glance a rather plain teacher who soon develops into a character with
an interesting past and a clever woman who knows how to play the game. In the course
of the novel, she is getting stronger and more fascinating, a woman who knows
how to survive, who has seen everything and cannot be fooled or threatened by
anybody.
Although it
is a spy novel, the conspiracy part retreats behind the character’s development
and the family struggle which is not presented as the typical husband-wife quarrels
but a deep-going question about faith and trust. The plot itself seems to me
very authentic, it is cleverly designed and although there is hardly any
action, there is a constant suspense underlying which keeps you reading on.
