England, 1972.In the midst of the Cold War, a young student called Serena Frome is recruited by MI5 in Cambridge. Her mission: create a foundation to help promising novelists, but whose true aim is to generate anti-communist propaganda. Intothis life, governed by lies, enters Tom Healy, a young writer with whom she falls in love. Until one day the moment arrives in which she has to decide whether to carry on with her double life or reveal her secret This fascinating story traps the reader and constantly surprises with successive twists and turns in which reality and fiction fuse and confuse. With extraordinary psychological depth, a fast-moving plot and moments of subtle irony, Ian McEwan demonstrates once again that he is a consummate master in the art of the novel.