An unforgettable, suspenseful novel about childhood, grief and Cold War paranoia

Harding skilfully weaves together history, memory and imagination in this haunting and beautifully written novel about how, chameleon-like, we construct our own identities Daily Mail

On a freezing January morning in 1961, eight-year-old Anna's mother disappears into the fog.

That same morning, a spy case breaks in the news. Obsessed by stories of espionage, Anna's brother Peter begins to construct a theory that their mother, a refugee from eastern Germany, was an undercover spy and might even still be alive. As life returns to normal, Anna struggles to sort fact from fantasy. Did her mother have a secret life?

And how do you know who a person was when she's already dead?