Beatriz Willams has written another great novel, Our Woman in Moscow. This is a quiet spy thriller that takes place during the end of WWII and at the beginning of the Cold War with Russia.
Two sisters, fraternal twins are orphaned at a young age, brings them close and the major supporter of each other. They are physically very different, Ruth is blond and statuesque , working for a fashion modeling company, and Iris petite, with a dark complexion and on a trip to Rome after finishing school she meets the man she will marry. Iris embraces the life of a mother and housewife.
Sasha Digby, the man Iris falls in love with and marries may not be the man he seems, and as the novel progresses he goes through many changes in behavior. This is the heyday of the infamous Cambridge Spy Ring. Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, two of these five highly-placed British intelligence officers who spy for the Soviets, are characters in the book and associates of Iris’ husband. This was an interesting part of history that I enjoyed learning about.
Sasha is an American diplomat who traveling when he meets and marries Iris. She has three children, who were a difficult delivery.and is about to deliver her fourth child. She writes to her estranged sister asking her to come help. It has been 12 years since the sisters parted bitterly in Rome. In the meantime Iris has defected to Russia with her family at her husband's insistence.
Through a series of complicated moves Ruth travels from New York to the Soviet Union with the assistance of C. Sumner Fox, an FBI agent. Told in alternating chapters by Ruth and Iris we learn the past and the present lives of all the characters. Then there are a few chapters dedicated to Lyudmila Ivanova, a ruthless, calculating and heartless member of the KGB.
This is a story of trust, resilience and love.
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