Although I enjoyed this book I found it more difficult to get into than other books by this author. It is a tale of lost love during the cold war period. The story begins with a departure from Austria in 1986 and moves between there, Prague, Paris today and,later in the book, Berlin in 1996. Laure has had to leave Prague suddenly as she is in danger and her lover has not turned up to leave with her. Through the rest of the book the story unfolds to the present day. She does not know until the end of the story whether he survived or not and is trying to get on with her life, but the past haunts her. She eventually finds out. I found the story a little too drawn out for my taste but the author drew me in to the fear and emotions of the time very skilfully.