Juliet Armstrong is working for MI5 during the Second World War, transcribing the conversations of Nazi sympathisers in the hope of neutralising them as a threat – if they’re speaking to MI5, they aren’t speaking to the Germans. (How much value this provides is unclear.)

She gets drawn further and further into the world of espionage, and at one point she has to pretend to be a Nazi sympathiser to infiltrate their ranks. She becomes more and more adept in the world of spying, subterfuge, and pretending to be somebody else. But ten years after the war, she realises she’s being followed – her past actions are catching up with her.

I enjoyed this book, but it didn’t hold my attention – I almost gave up halfway through. The main narrative cuts between 1940 and 1950, and we get information in fits and spurts. I found this frustrating, because Juliet is reacting to something in 1950 based on an experience in 1940 – but we don’t know what that is yet! I’m sure this is meant to mimic the uncertainty of dealing with espionage, but it made me struggle to care about Juliet.

All the strands do tie together at the end, and I was satisfied by the conclusion. It did feel a little rushed.

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