Leningrad in 1952 is a city recovering from war, where Andrei, a young hospital doctor and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are forging a life together. Summers at the dacha, preparations for the hospital ball, work and the care of sixteen year old Kolya fill their minds. They try hard to avoid coming to the attention of the authorities, but even so their private happiness is precarious. Stalin is still in power, and the Ministry for State Security has new targets in its sights. When Andrei has to treat the seriously ill child of a senior secret police officer, Volkov, he finds himself and his family caught in an impossible game of life and death - for in a land ruled by whispers and watchfulness, betrayal can come from those closest to you. A gripping and deeply moving portrait of life in post-war Soviet Russia, "The Betrayal" brilliantly shows the epic struggle of ordinary people to survive in a time of violence and terror.
The Betrayal
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Review
Enthralling. Emotionally gripping . . . ordinary people struggling against a city's beautiful indifference, and clinging on for dear life (Daily Telegraph )
Beautifully crafted, gripping, moving, enlightening. Sure to be one of the best historical novels of the year (Time Out )
Scrupulous, pitch-perfect. With heart-pounding force, Dunmore builds up a double narrative of suspense (Sunday Times )
Magnificent, brave, tender . . . with a unique gift for immersing the reader in the taste, smell and fear of a story (Independent on Sunday )
A masterpiece. An extraordinarily powerful evocation of a time of unimaginable fear. We defy you to read it without a pounding heart and a lump in your throat (Grazia )
A beautifully written and deeply moving story about fear, loss, love and honesty amid the demented lies of Stalin's last days. I literally could not put it down (Antony Beevor )
Dunmore chillingly evokes the atmosphere of Soviet suspicion, where whispered rumours and petty grievances metastasise into lies and denunciation. A gripping read (Daily Mail )
Meticulous, clever, eloquent. An absorbing and thoughtful tale of good people in hard times (Guardian )
A remarkably feeling, nuanced novel that satisfies the head as well as the heart. This does not read like a retelling of history, but like a draught of real life. With her seemingly small canvas, Dunmore has created a universe (Sunday Herald )
Dunmore's genius lies in her ability to convey the strange Soviet atmosphere of these very Soviet stories using the most subtle of clues (Spectator )
Storytelling on a grand scale (The Times )
Beautifully crafted, gripping, moving, enlightening. Sure to be one of the best historical novels of the year (Time Out )
Scrupulous, pitch-perfect. With heart-pounding force, Dunmore builds up a double narrative of suspense (Sunday Times )
Magnificent, brave, tender . . . with a unique gift for immersing the reader in the taste, smell and fear of a story (Independent on Sunday )
A masterpiece. An extraordinarily powerful evocation of a time of unimaginable fear. We defy you to read it without a pounding heart and a lump in your throat (Grazia )
A beautifully written and deeply moving story about fear, loss, love and honesty amid the demented lies of Stalin's last days. I literally could not put it down (Antony Beevor )
Dunmore chillingly evokes the atmosphere of Soviet suspicion, where whispered rumours and petty grievances metastasise into lies and denunciation. A gripping read (Daily Mail )
Meticulous, clever, eloquent. An absorbing and thoughtful tale of good people in hard times (Guardian )
A remarkably feeling, nuanced novel that satisfies the head as well as the heart. This does not read like a retelling of history, but like a draught of real life. With her seemingly small canvas, Dunmore has created a universe (Sunday Herald )
Dunmore's genius lies in her ability to convey the strange Soviet atmosphere of these very Soviet stories using the most subtle of clues (Spectator )
Storytelling on a grand scale (The Times )
About the Author
Helen Dunmore has published eleven novels with Penguin: Zennor in Darkness, which won the McKitterick Prize; Burning Bright; A Spell of Winter, which won the Orange Prize; Talking to the Dead; Your Blue-Eyed Boy; With Your Crooked Heart; The Siege, which was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award and for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002; Mourning Ruby; House of Orphans; Counting the Stars and The Betrayal which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010. She is also a poet, children's novelist and short-story writer.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
75 of 76 people found the following review helpful
By Stevie Kemp
Format:Hardcover
The novel opens with an emotional dilemma that gripped me heart and soul. Should Andrei treat an ill child even though he is putting the life of himself and his family at risk? After reading Dunmore's The Siege, it was good to be reunited with Anna and Andrei and see how their lives had turned out (though this book stands alone and you could go straight to it or read The Siege first). They are tender, likeable, brave characters, whose humanity puts them in danger. But this novel is not judgmental of the other characters who live under the restrictions of Stalin's Russia in 1952. We experience the tensions of such lives, the need for survival, the compromises and the unexpected moments of courage. The novel's atmospheric evocation of Russia, the powerful characterisation, and the tense dialogue all make this a good read. In the end,this is a love story that keeps you reading. I opened the book and couldn't stop - I had to know what happened to Anna,Andrei and Kolya. Sparely but poetically written - I feel as though I've seen Anna's green dress and walked in the cold streets with Volkov. I highly recommend this book. Afterwards, it kept going round in my head. A fantastic, emotional and life enhancing read.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By Pen pal
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Having read 'The Siege' and found it absolutely wonderful, I was very interested to read this follow up. As has been pointed out both books stand alone, but they are both worth reading. Andrei and Anna and Kolya, Anna's brother all live together in their apartment, the same apartment they went through the Siege of Leningrad in, and are now having to endure the horror of Stalin's Russia where every neighbour has been turned into a spy and the slightest wrong gesture or slip of the tongue can result in imprisonment and far worse. Andrei is a doctor and although he should never have been called upon for this particular case, ends up taking care of a very sick boy of a fearsome official. This case has been palmed off on to him by another doctor who should have taken it on but is too terrified of the consequence if anything should go amiss with the treatment. The story is based around the real persecution of doctors during the reign of Stalin -the Doctors' Plot - where they were falsely accused of being enemies of the state. So through Andrei, we are witness to the absolute horror of living life under Stalin. If one is to really think what it must have been like to live life in perpetual fear of neighbours, work colleagues, to have no real freedom of speech, it is awful. If you are interested in this book then I am sure that you would be interested in 'Wild Swans', a true story in the era of Mao.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I actually missed The Siege when it was first published but I did buy a copy as soon as I had finished The Betrayal. For me The Betrayal is an even better novel and fans of The Siege will not be disappointed.
It continues the story of Anna and Andre and their struggle to survive in post-war Soviet Russia. They may no-longer have to boil leather for 'soup' but getting food still mean queuing, perhaps for hours, hoping that the supply will not run out before they reach the head of the queue. The people of Leningrad may no-longer have to worry about the enemy without, but the enemy within is real, nothing has really changed. From the moment that Andre is asked to look at a sick child, the son of Volkov a senior secret-police officer, I had a sense of foreboding. The suspense builds with every page as the main characters, a doctor and nursery teacher, are caught up in a situation from which there is no escape under the Stalinist regime. It made me try to imagine what it would be like to live in a society where you lived in fear of being denounced by 'friends' or neighbours, where 'trust no-one' was a creed you lived by. Then again, can we really condemn the betrayers? Their lives, the lives of their families were also threatened and perhaps they just did what they had to to survive.
This is fiction and yet it reads like fact, I believed in the characters, believed that this situation occured. Dunmore takes the reader on a journey into the heart of Soviet Russia, this novel entertains and educates, what more can you ask?
It continues the story of Anna and Andre and their struggle to survive in post-war Soviet Russia. They may no-longer have to boil leather for 'soup' but getting food still mean queuing, perhaps for hours, hoping that the supply will not run out before they reach the head of the queue. The people of Leningrad may no-longer have to worry about the enemy without, but the enemy within is real, nothing has really changed. From the moment that Andre is asked to look at a sick child, the son of Volkov a senior secret-police officer, I had a sense of foreboding. The suspense builds with every page as the main characters, a doctor and nursery teacher, are caught up in a situation from which there is no escape under the Stalinist regime. It made me try to imagine what it would be like to live in a society where you lived in fear of being denounced by 'friends' or neighbours, where 'trust no-one' was a creed you lived by. Then again, can we really condemn the betrayers? Their lives, the lives of their families were also threatened and perhaps they just did what they had to to survive.
This is fiction and yet it reads like fact, I believed in the characters, believed that this situation occured. Dunmore takes the reader on a journey into the heart of Soviet Russia, this novel entertains and educates, what more can you ask?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Russian story
I also appreciated that book, for I know about St-Pétersbourg siege. In 1917, my grandparents flew out of Russia because my grandfather was noble, and I understand the... Read more
Published 28 days ago by Katherine Corjon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Probably as good as The Siege
Although I have not yet read this book as it is the sequel to The Siege, I have no doubt that it will be equally well written and compelling in the narrative.
Published 1 month ago by S. Snailum
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Excellent, evocative of the historical period and thoroughly enjoyable. I recommend this book to anyone.... After they have read the siege
Published 1 month ago by Ainya
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Betrayal
This was chosen by my book club, and was a good read - kept you guessing until the last chapter
Published 1 month ago by Carol A Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars
An amazing book.
I read this book after reading The Siege, I found it absolutely riveting. I was constantly hoping for the best for the characters, For me, Helen Dunmore has created a vivid sense... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Maggie Dyson
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Betrayal
This was the sequel to The Siege. Again a superb book and conclusion to a wonderful story. A must read.
Published 5 months ago by Book Worm
5.0 out of 5 stars
A five star read
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I chose it purely because I am a Helen Dunmore fan (I've never read a book of hers that I didn't enjoy), and it was only after I started reading... Read more
Published 10 months ago by JL Bowes
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Dunmore masterclass
We are in Leningrad and it is 1952. Andrei and Anna are a married couple in their thirties and they have been surrogate parents for Kolya, Anna's now teenaged brother, ever since... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mick Read
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disillusion
This is the sequel to "The Siege", and is almost obligatory reading after reading that book by Helen Dunmore, which describes the desperate measures taken by a family in order to... Read more
Published 13 months ago by R A Lewis
4.0 out of 5 stars
Diagnosis Murder
The Betrayal is a companion to Helen Dunmore's earlier novel The Siege, a harrowing story that takes place during the siege of Leningrad. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Quicksilver
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