‘A gripping, intelligent, utterly-of-the-moment thriller’ <\/b>EMMA STONEX
‘<\/b>A captivating story of women’s power, love and secrets<\/b>‘ <\/b>LARA PRESCOTT
‘Compelling, atmospheric. It’s BRILLIANT’ <\/b>MARIAN KEYES<\/p>\n
ONE WOMAN KNOWS THE TRUTH. CAN YOU TRUST HER TO TELL IT?<\/b><\/p>\n
Laura flies to her parents’ homeland for the defence case of her life. Facing trial is Marija Popa, ‘the Black Widow’; a constant at her husband’s side until the day his people rose up and executed him. Beautiful and beguiling, Marija insists she knew nothing of her husband’s dark affairs. <\/p>\n
For Laura, the case has a personal meaning. Her mother has never spoken of the horrors she witnessed under the old regime, and remains a shadow of the woman she used to be. As Laura prepares for the trial, she realises that to find the truth, she must enter the web of the dictator’s wife. But what secrets lie within?<\/p>\n
A BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS<\/i> BOOK CLUB PICK.<\/b>
THE NEW EUROPEAN’<\/i>S BEST FICTION PICK OF THE YEAR 2022. <\/b><\/p>\n
———-
<\/b>
‘Richly imagined’ <\/b>THE TIMES<\/i>
‘Demands to be devoured in one sitting’<\/b> GLAMOUR<\/i>
‘Magnificent’ <\/b>CHARLOTTE PHILBY
‘A gripping and moving debut’ <\/b>HARLAN COBEN
‘Fascinating, atmospheric, utterly gripping’<\/b> LIZ HYDER
‘Spellbinding’ <\/b>JANE SHEMILT
‘Darkly compelling’<\/b> STYLIST<\/i>
‘Thrilling and remarkably assured’ <\/b>NEW EUROPEAN<\/i>
‘<\/b>The ending left me breathless<\/b>‘<\/b> LARA PRESCOTT
‘<\/b>Atmospheric, claustrophobic and so elegantly written’ <\/b> ELLERY LLOYD
‘Engrossing, evocative, chillingly claustrophobic’ <\/b>KAREN HAMILTON
‘A da<\/b>rkly atmospheric, rich, compulsive and page-turning read’ <\/b>KATE HAMER
‘A remarkable new talent’ <\/b>ANTHONY HOROWITZ
‘<\/b>S<\/b>umptuously written. <\/b>One of the most compelling literary debuts of the year<\/b>‘ <\/b>GLAMOUR<\/i>
‘Excellent, immersive’ <\/b>HARRIET TYCE<\/p>\n
** Coming soon from Freya Berry: THE BIRDCAGE LIBRARY<\/i> **<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She’s beautiful and beguiling – but can you trust her? Young London lawyer Laura flies to her parents’ homeland for the most important defence case of her life. On trial is Marija Popa, the beautiful widow of a murdered dictator, who created fear and division in his impoverished Eastern Bloc country, hiding untold riches for himself and his family. For Laura, the case is an opportunity to make sense of her broken childhood and her distant relationship with her mother, who will not speak about her old life under the regime. But Laura is distracted by the enigmatic Marija, who claims she knew nothing of her husband’s dark affairs. As Laura is led deeper into her investigation of the past, she realises that to uncover the truth, she must draw closer to the dictator’s wife. But does danger lie there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[68],"product_tag":[69,127,1387,1486,250,2790],"class_list":{"0":"post-96609","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","5":"product_cat-general-fiction","6":"product_tag-historical-fiction","7":"product_tag-modern-contemporary-fiction-post-c-1945","8":"product_tag-political-legal-thriller","9":"product_tag-political-leaders-leadership","10":"product_tag-politics-government","11":"product_tag-religion-politics","12":"pa_book_author-berry-freya","13":"pa_cover-paperback","14":"pa_dewey-823-92-edition23","15":"pa_edition-1st-paperback-ed","16":"pa_imprint-headline-review","17":"pa_language-english","18":"pa_pages-8382","19":"pa_publisher-headline-review","20":"pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","22":"first","23":"onbackorder","24":"taxable","25":"shipping-taxable","26":"purchasable","27":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n