Overview

THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: Narrative that is direct, candid, unpretentious. A member of a highly privileged caste in Soviet society... reduced to a 'mozho' girl mixing with foreigners, with instructions to report on them... the real story is in the simple, graphic and almost entirely persuasive account of her observations - some amusing and others horribly or pitifully gruesome. In the unforgiving WWII climate of 1940, 21-year old Nora is faced with a perilous ultimatum: Enlist with Stalin's secret police as a honey trap, or face the death of her family. Despairingly she agrees. Nora finds herself struggling to seduce her target, John Murray, a British Embassy cypher in Moscow. As two disparate lives intertwine, their desperate escape leads the couple through frozen Arctic wastelands, clutching forged papers and hopes not just for survival but for a future together.

Full Product Details

9781912031672

Table of Contents

Reviews

Times Literary Supplement: Narrative that is direct, candid, unpretentious. The real story is in the simple, graphic and almost entirely persuasive account of her observations as a member of a highly privileged caste in Soviet society; * Oxford Mail: A woman of infinite ingenuity, persistence and great courage. The book would make an admirable film on the lines of Odette ; * Yorkshire Observer: As a work of fiction one would have regarded it as highly exciting and admirably constructed. Yet, astonishingly, every word is true; * Yorkshire Evening Press: How she fell in love and married the man she was forced to spy on is admirably told, but nothing could be more thrilling than her ultimate escape from the secret police; * Yorkshire Post: Told with a simplicity that carries conviction, and with a narrative skill that makes it as absorbing as any novel; * Aberdeen Express: A remarkable story of personal courage. The revelations are grim and often terrifying; * Birmingham Gazette: A curious story, dramatic, moving and always interesting; * Cambridge Daily News: A curious human story; * Good Housekeeper: Told without melodrama or hysterics and indeed with a calmness and sympathy that is surprising. The story is of an immensely courageous woman; * STAFFORD EVENING SENTINEL: confirms much of what has already been written about the grim conditions of life under the Soviet system; * LIVERPOOL ECHO: Lieut.-General Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane As an example of initiative, drive and sheer pluck Nora's adventures and success were truly remarkable ; * PEOPLE: Thrilling and true

Author Information

* Nora Murray's metier was writing and as such she felt at one with the tools of that trade. Forever writing letters and making entries in her diary, a consummate Lady of Letters, her book would allow her to express her distaste for totalitarian regimes and the love of Mother Russia. * John Murray born of Greek/Irish parents and brought up in Edwardian England soon found himself working in Latvia. Having achieved a commercial education at Pitman's College he was put in charge of managing a cigarette factory. Later, he became its owner while also running an import export business in the Baltic States.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available