* Winner of the Virginia Prize for Fiction, 2013 * Nominated for Scottish First Book of the Year Award 2015, Saltire Society * BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime

A tale of love, betrayal and redemption in the dying days of the Cold War. The year is 1985. East Germany is in the grip of communism. Magda, a brilliant but disillusioned young linguist, is desperate to flee to the West. When a black market deal brings her into contact with Robert, a young Scot studying at Leipzig University, she sees a way to realise her escape plans. But as Robert falls in love with her, he stumbles into a complex world of shifting half-truths - one that will undo them both. Many years later, long after the Berlin Wall has been torn down, Robert returns to Leipzig in search of answers. Can he track down the elusive Magda? And will the past give up its secrets?