This was my first Mawer book, and I was surprised to discover it read like a political thriller or a spy novel. It begins in the midst of the Prague Spring, in summer 1968: James and Ellie are Oxford University students on holiday, determined to see as much of Europe as they can before school resumes again in the fall. It’s pure chance that brings them to Prague. Elsewhere in the city, British diplomat Sam falls headlong in love with the Czech activist Lenka, a leader among the young people's political movement for a more open Czechoslovakia. Evidence that Prague is living in a new and freer era is everywhere—and yet the reader knows what the characters do not: it's only a matter of time before Russian tanks roll in to violently reassert Communist control. Fascinating and moving.
