The Betrayal (The Siege #2)

Posted on 13 June 2017 by Helen Dunmore

A riveting and emotionally absorbing portrait of post war Soviet Russia, a world of violence and terror, where the severest acts of betrayal can come from the most trusted allies.Internationally acclaimed author Helen Dun follows her bestselling novel, The Siege, with a riveting and emotionally absorbing portrait of post war Soviet Russia, a world of violence and terror, where the severest acts of betrayal can come from the most trusted allies In 1952 Leningrad, Andrei, a young doctor, and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are forging a life together in the postwar, post siege wreckage But they know their happiness is precarious, like that of millions of Russians who must avoid the claws of Stalin s merciless Ministry of State Security When Andrei is forced to treat the seriously ill child of a senior secret police officer, his every move is scrutinized, and it becomes painfully clear that his own fate, and that of his family, is bound to the child s Trapped in an impossible game of life and death, and pitted against a power mad father s raging grief, Andrei and Anna must avoid the whispers and watchful eyes of those who will say or do anything to save themselves With The Betrayal, Dun returns with a powerful and stirring novel of ordinary people in the grip of a terrible and sinister regime, and an evocative tale of a love that will not be silenced. Read The Betrayal (The Siege #2) Author Helen Dunmore – kino-fada.fr Why do we think that the present is stronger than the past They are not even separate The past is alive, waiting It claims what is its own Rarely have I read a novel so effective in evoking the feeling of Stalinist Russia the suffocating, overwhelming paranoia of a place where everyone is alert to dissenters, saboteurs, and enemies of the state, where people are willing to inform on those around them to save themselves, or just to improve their own situation Dun builds the uncert Why do we think that the present is stronger than the past They are not even separate The...A marvelous read Soviet Russia comes to life in all its paranoid complexity, seen through the eyes of one achingly poignant family an idealistic young doctor and his quiet wife, both survivors of the Leningrad siege and its appalling starvation All they want is to enjoy the tiny pleasures of life allowed by the state, and build a life togetherbut the wheels of power have a way of grinding people like this into paste, and they both know the danger they are in when the young doctor is ca A marvelous read Soviet Russia comes to life in all its paranoid complexity, seen through the eyes of one achingly poignant family an idealistic young doctor and his quiet wife, both survivors of the Leningrad siege and its appalling starvation All they want is to enjoy the tiny pleasures of life allowed by the state, and build a life togetherbut ...Despite the Booker long listing, or maybe because of it, I approached this one with some trepidation I ve never read any Helen Dun, and I remember being put off by a review of Mourning Ruby that called it like a Russian doll too literary for me, I thought, and I ve never touched her stuff since So I pick this one up, and then find it s a sequel to The Siege, which I haven t read but don t be put off by that, I wasn t, and it worked perfectly as a stand alone And I now have a new aut Despite the Booker long listing, or maybe because of it, I approached this one with some trepidation I ve never read any Helen Dun, and I remember being put off by a review of Mourning Ruby that called it like a Russian doll too literary for me, I thought, and I ve never touched her stuff since So I pick this one up, and then find it s a sequel to The...Alas, this Sequel StagnatesI ended my review of Dun s The Siege, set in Leningrad during the German blockade of 1941 43, with the words the survivors have rediscovered their humanity In this sequel, however, set ten years further on, the loss of humanity has returned, at least for large sections of the population Now it is not warfare or famine that they fear, but the tentacles of the Soviet apparat...Very well written, and delicately drawn suspenseful and evocative without being over the top in its depictions of Stalin s depravities Tom Rob Smith, I m looking at you It s an interesting combination of suspense and historical drama with really thoughtful writing that focuseson the small details than on the big reveals The central love story is compelling and realistic, and the other characters are economically drawn but memorable and real as well I found the suspense almost pain Very well written, and delicately drawn suspenseful and evocative without being over the top in its depicti...In The Siege, her novel set during the 900 day siege of Leningrad, Helen Dun created a can t look away portrait of a city and people in unimaginable circumstances Her map of motives, loyalties and escalating struggle is spellbinding Now Dun has brought us a sequel to that excellent novel, The Betrayal This new book is the next chapter in the lives of Anna, Andrei and Kolya The Betrayal is set ten years after the end of the siege Anna, the daughter of a dissident writer, and Andrei h In The Siege, her novel set during the 900 day siege of Leningrad, Helen Dun created a can t look away portrait of a city and people in unimaginable circumstances Her map of motives, loyalties and escalating struggle is spellbinding Now Dun has brought us a sequel to that excellent novel, The Betrayal This new book is the next chapter in the lives of Anna, Andrei and Kolya The Betrayal is set ten years after the end of the siege Anna, the daughter of a dissident writer, and Andrei have married and are raising Anna s little brother the now teenaged Kolya Anna works in a daycare, Andrei is a pediatrician and Kolya is sullen It is spring, Leningrad has been rebuilt and replanted but Stalin is still in power so everyone still lives in fear During the siege you feared Germans, starvation and freezing to death now you fear your neighbors, your hopes and your government The plot in The Betrayal is touched off by a sick boy, Gorya He is brough...Follow up to the outstanding The Siege set 10 years or so post war just before Stalin s death which occurs at the end of the book Andrei is a paediatric doctor specialising in infant rheumatism, Anna is a teacher in an efficient soviet run nursery, Kolya a 15 year old piano playing Anna in particular is still haunted by the memories of the cold and hunger siege, she and Andrei live their life as carefully as possible to avoid the new fears haunting them of denunciation and arrest Andrei is Follow up to the outstanding The Siege set 10 years or so post war just before Stalin s death which occurs at the end of the book Andrei is a paediatric doctor specialising in infant rheumatism, Anna is a teacher in an efficient soviet run nursery, Kolya a 15 year old piano playing Anna in particular is still haunted by the memories of the cold and hunger siege, she and Andrei live their life as carefully as possible to...This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here In her latest novel, The Betrayal, Helen Dun returns to the Soviet Union, and to the city of Leningrad whose history she so powerfully evoked in her best seller The Siege Now, a decade later, starvation and bitter cold have been replaced with fear and suspicion, as the people of Leningrad do...Helen Dun s THE BETRAYAL brings to mind the works of Alexander Solzhenitsyn as she tells the story of a physician and nursery school teacher who get caught up in the Stalinist paranoia that existed in the Soviet Union following World War II until Stalin s death in March, 1953 The chronological parameters of the book are the Nazi siege of Leningrad during the war culminating in the Doctor s Plot where Stalin and his henchman dreamed up a conspiracy of Jewish physicians who were bent on killi Helen Dun s THE BETRAYAL brings to mind the works of Alexander Solzhenitsyn as she tells the story of a physician and nursery school teacher who get caught up in the Stalinist paranoia that existed in the Soviet Union following World War II until Stalin s death in March, 1953 The chronological parameters of the book are the Nazi siege of Leningrad during the war culminating in the Doctor s Plot where Stalin and his henchman dreamed up a conspiracy of Jewish physicians who were bent on killing the Soviet leadership as these supposed Zionists worked w...Having read Helen DunThe Siege I had her sequel on my shelf for a very long time and decided it was time to read it I wasn t blown away by the The Siege but still was intrigued by the blurb of The Betrayal and decided to read it, but this novel is also a bit flat and dull.Set in Leningrad in 1952 toward the end of the reign of Stalin, Anna a nursery school teacher, and her husband Andrei a doctor...

English
13 June 2017

Helen Dunmore