The Girl in Berlin - Softcover

Wilson, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846688272 ISBN 13: 9781846688270

Publisher: Serpent's Tail, 2013

Synopsis

"This is a clever, well-written, and carefully plotted novel in which class, hypocrisy, moral corruption, treachery, and taboos ancient and modern are cunningly interwoven."—The Times

Summer, 1951. Two suspected spies, Burgess and Maclean, have disappeared, and the nation is obsessed with their whereabouts.

Speculation is at fever pitch when Colin Harris, a member of the Communist Party who has been in Germany for several years, turns up to see his old friends Dinah and Alan Wentworth. He has news: he has fallen in love with a girl in East Berlin, and is coming home—with her—for good. Meanwhile, Jack McGovern, who sometimes feels like the only decent man in Special Branch, has a rendezvous with a real spy. Miles Kingdom thinks there's a mole at MI5, and he wants McGovern's help.

A novel about secrets, betrayal, and unearthing the truth, The Girl in Berlin is a reminder that when nothing is as it seems, no one can be trusted—even those you think you know best.

Elizabeth Wilson is an independent researcher and writer best known for her commentaries on feminism and popular culture. She is currently a visiting professor at the London College of Fashion. Her novels The Twilight Hour and War Damage are also published by Serpent's Tail.

About this title

About the Author:

An independent researcher and writer best known for her commentaries on feminism and popular culture, Elizabeth Wilson is currently Visiting Professor at the London College of Fashion. She is the author of several non-fiction books. Her novels The Twilight Hour [9781852424770] and War Damage [9781846686504] are also published by Serpent's Tail.

From Booklist:

In the summer of 1951, British intelligence officer Guy Burgess and diplomat Donald Maclean have disappeared and will soon be revealed as Soviet agents. Concern over communist infiltration of British society is running rampant when Colin Harris, a party member, returns from East Berlin, announcing that he is engaged to a German woman and needs the help of his friends Dinah and Alan Wentworth in getting his fiancée out of Berlin. Meanwhile, Jack McGovern of Special Branch is hunting the murderer of a leftist intellectual and sees Harris at the man’s funeral. Soon McGovern is assigned to work with an MI5 agent who is tracking a mole in his outfit. McGovern, a fish out of water in the international intelligence game, goes to Berlin to meet with Harris’ fiancée and quickly finds himself stumbling about the ravaged city, “a discordant mixture of bomb site and building site.” The key secret is easy to spot, but Wilson does a fine job of evoking the creepy paranoia of the early Cold War years—subtexts humming under every exchange, duplicity seeming to breed in the rubble. A must for fans of the superb BBC drama The Hour. --Bill Ott

About this edition

• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1846688272
• ISBN 13: 9781846688270
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320