Available Formats
The Exile
By (Author) Patrick Worrall
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Penguin (Transworld)
23rd April 2025
16th January 2025
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Political / legal thriller
Historical fiction
823.92
Paperback
384
Width 127mm, Height 198mm, Spine 23mm
267g
The prequel to break-out debut phenomenon, The Partisan, following a young Greta as she journeys into the dark underbelly of France to rescue her lieutenant's missing daughter, Morta. 'An espionage story of high literary calibre' Strong Words Magazine 'A dramatic and thoroughly immersive account of loyalty, ideology and betrayal' Guardian 'A terrific new voice in spy fiction...A complex, action packed portrait of a continent in ferment' Mail on Sunday 'In remarkably granular detail, Worrall conjures up a Fifties Paris where historical and fictional characters coexist' Sunday Times ________________ It's 1951 and the servants of Stalin are closing in on the occupied nations of eastern Europe. As the Red Army tightens the net, Greta - best and bravest of freedom fighters - is told to escape to the West and undertake a dangerous mission. Greta's task is to find a missing girl- the precious daughter of a partisan general who was sent into exile in the final days of the war. But the so-called Free World is no place for vulnerable young refugees. Europe is in ruins, the old Empires are dying, and a spectacular cast of spivs, gangsters and rival intelligence agencies are fighting over the scraps. Crossing the Iron Curtain will require nerves of steel as Greta faces down the French mob, ex-Nazis, Soviet spies, all the glamour and temptation of Paris and ultimately, her own demons. The Exile is a white-knuckle ride into the black heart of postwar Europe - a terrifying world in which allies and enemies are impossible to tell apart. ________ Praise for The Partisan 'Fast-paced, intriguing and deeply atmospheric' Tom Bradby 'Remarkedly assured debut ... the advent of a real talent...One to watch' Sunday Times 'Impressive ... The scene-setting is finely detailed and evocative, the characters skilfully drawn' Financial Times 'Immersive, intriguing, and intelligent - incredibly impressive, up there with the best in the genre' Lee Child
Worrall wonderfully conjures the maelstrom of postwar France... a dramatic and thoroughly immersive account of loyalty, ideology and betrayal * Guardian *
In remarkably granular detail, Worrall conjures up a Fifties Paris where historical and fictional characters coexist * Sunday Times *
A terrific new voice in spy fictionA complex, action packed portrait of a continent in ferment * Mail on Sunday *
Praise for Patrick Worrall * : *
The advent of a real talent...One to watch. * Sunday Times *
Patrick Worrall was educated at a comprehensive school in Worcestershire and King's College, Cambridge. He has worked as a teacher in eastern Europe and Asia, a newspaper journalist, a court reporter at the Old Bailey, and the head of the Channel 4 News FactCheck blog. His first novel, The Partisan, was inspired by a World War Two photograph of three young female freedom fighters he saw in a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Exile is his second novel.