Vienna, 1954
After losing everyone she loves in the final days of World War II, Ingrid Bauer agrees to a hasty marriage with a gentle Soviet embassy worker and follows him home to Moscow. But nothing deep within the Soviet Union’s totalitarian regime is what it seems, including her new husband, whom Ingrid suspects works for the KGB. Upon her daughter’s birth, Ingrid risks everything and reaches out in hope to the one country she understands and trusts–Britain, the country of her mother’s birth–and starts passing along intelligence to MI6, navigating a world of secrets and lies, light and shadow.
Washington, DC, 1980
Part of the Foreign Studies Initiative, Anya Kadinova finishes her degree at Georgetown University and boards her flight home to Moscow, leaving behind the man she loves and a country she’s grown to respect. Though raised by dedicated and loyal Soviet parents, Anya soon questions an increasingly oppressive and paranoid Soviet regime at the height of the Cold War. When the KGB murders her bestfriend, Anya picks sides and contacts the CIA. Working in a military research lab, Anya passes along Soviet military plans and schematics in an effort to end the 1980s arms race.
Alternating points of view keep readers on their toes as the past catches up to the present when an unprecedented act of treachery in 1985 threatens all undercover agents operating within the Soviet Union, and both Ingrid and Anya find themselves in a race for their lives against time and the KGB.
My Review
I took my time reading this story simply because I wanted to savor and enjoy the adventure. I found myself thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it. I enjoyed the two time periods and how they connected at the end. The present day was a little more interesting but I think its because it happened during my lifetime. I enjoyed getting to know Ingrid and Anya. The felt very real to me.
I loved all the spy stuff in this book. It was fascinating.
The story is written from the perspective of Ingrid and Anya who grew up in Russia. It really gave me a different perspective on how they lived in Russia under soviet control. It was fascinating and the story really brought history to life.
This thought from Anya really stuck with me. It made me appreciate the freedoms i have.
“I’ve learned that Americans are hard in ways I couldn’t have imagined and find absolutely exhausting. To have all these constitutionally protected freedoms is enviable, but it also means you have to respect them, uphold them, and fight for them. “
“The whole thing takes strength—the illusory peace that conformity brings has no place here. Here peace and freedom rest on Americans’ ability to live in tension and to discuss, debate, and refine. To live like that takes constant commitment and energy—every opinion, every decision, every day.”
I know that this story is fiction but i have no doubt that there were many men and women who put their life on the line for their beliefs.
I cannot wait to read more stories by Katherine Reay.
I recommend this to my family and friends.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
Reflections From My Bookshelves 