1960’s cold war is the setting for this spook thriller. The story line feeds directly from the events of the spy fraternity that existed at the time – gay men educated and recruited at university. Giles Holloway has a habit of taking files home but has an accident and asks a favour of Simon Callington to return a top-secret file to the Admiralty office. This is where it all goes wrong and Simon finds himself being accused of spying. Simon is the accused however the star character is his spouse Lily a German refugee. The author paints a very austere picture of life in a Britain covered in a vail of cold war suspicion. You instantly start to imagine what it would be like to live in this era (I vaguely remember it), with steam trains, landlines, smog, no TV, no computers and no central heating. This is the best part of the book as without this vivid description of life, the plot would disappear in importance and would be much better with more action.

I thought this book was extremely well written, and in a cold way very emotional. One feels tremendous sympathy with Simon and Lily Callington, their lives almost destroyed by the evil of others. In their own way, they are both strong, both have had awful childhoods that have mounded their lives. It seems awful that an innocent like Simon can be used as a scapegoat by the real criminals, and justice was only served when Giles realises he is dying and confesses to the police.
A thought provoking story, quite evocative of the sixties. Worth reading.

I can't articulate what it is about Dunmore's writing that seems to usually disconnect me from her books-like hearing someone retell a story originally told by someone else and kind of wishing I'd heard it from the original teller? But here, I loved the queer angle. It definitely got me through the book (and while I wouldn't agree with Simon's choice) and I enjoyed it. Lili was also a good character-her changes and streak of sheer autonomy were fun.