Iron Curtain: A Love Story

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Two worlds on the brink of change in a love story doomed to disaster 'A piercingly evocative East-West love story' The Times This is a story of East and West. A story of love, betrayal, and lost illusions... The end of the Cold War seems unimaginable for Milena, a Red Princess trapped in a lifetime of limitless luxury. Yet when she meets Jason, a confident British poet, it's not long before she's secretly planning her escape to Britain. 1980s London defies her privileged expectations. And when she discovers Jason's concept of freedom confronts her deepest-held beliefs, the very ideas of family and state come into question... 'A wonderful, perfectly-pitched novel- full of delightful intrigue and wry insight about the human predicament and its unique tensions' William Boyd 'Witty, poignant and full of surprises - every detail of this cross-cultural story of love and disillusionment rings true' Clare Chambers

Reviews

A poignant, bittersweet love story played out across the east-west divide, it challenges set ideas about loyalty, freedom and ideology -- Frederick Studemann * Financial Times, *Summer Books 2022* *
Superb... The divided continent has been at the heart of countless novels over the decades, but few can have been as cleverly crafted or better told than Vesna Goldsworthy's Iron Curtain... Brilliantly written -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *
The pages fly by, and Goldsworthy's careful scrutiny brings warmth and sympathy to her tale of belonging and betrayal. Tense, brooding and often hilarious, Iron Curtain finds bright sparks as well as bleakness in the cold war's dying embers -- James Stuart * Guardian *
Vesna Goldsworthy's masterly novel retains the grace and resilience of literary art while wading deep into the most riveting human drama... Goldsworthy is at once the most impartial and the tenderest of observers, a bold dramatist and a subtle humorist -- Rachel Cusk
Original and memorable... a profound understanding of the timeless realities of love, betrayal and the desire for revenge -- Pat Barker
Timely... Daring... A bittersweet tale of loyalty, love and the siren call of freedom -- Rebecca Abrams * Financial Times *
Iron Curtain seized me from its first page and I hardly put it down again until I arrived with reluctance to its stunning conclusion... Moving but also irresistibly enjoyable -- Megan Nolan
An extraordinary evocation of two wildly contrasted worlds... Vesna Goldsworthy writes so well! -- Michael Frayn
This excellent novel is a comedy of manners nevertheless fraught with tension... Goldsworthy captures the human perspective of life in the cold war superbly and sympathetically -- Alexander Larman * Observer *
A pacy rite-of-passage story that doubles as a portrait of the poisonous legacies of police-state paranoia -- Anthony Cummins * Daily Mail *
Superb * Jonathan Coe on Twitter *

Author Bio

Vesna Goldsworthy comes from Belgrade. She began her writing life as a poet and aged 22 performed her poetry to thirty thousand people at a football stadium. At 24 she moved to the UK and started writing in English, her third language. Her widely-translated books include a prize-winning poetry collection The Angel of Salonika; an internationally bestselling memoir, Chernobyl Strawberries; and the London-based novels Gorsky and Monsieur Ka. A former BBC World Service journalist, she is now an academic and occasional broadcaster.