Edward Bell's mother had left the Soviet Union thirty years before - a political firebrand, a troublemaker. She worked as an interpreter, and to begin with she'd tried hard to be English. She'd kept her accent in check, been friendly with other mothers at Edward's school. But gradually she returned to being a foreigner, she went to foreign shops, communicated only with foreign people. To her, England was nothing more than the view for the front window.

She and Edward appear to have lived quietly enough until one day, the war over, a Russian businessman is found dead in London. Suddenly they are hunted by security agents from the major powers, unleashing a cycle of killing right across Europe and into Russia. For Edward Bell it is a nightmare journey - his past is colliding frighteningly with the present and he must extract his family from the ruins of a cold war that is still threatening their lives.

The world through which he travels divides husband and wife, mother and son, twisting their destiny in violence and betrayal. In making his move, Bell must ultimately choose between the death of a principle and the life of a human being. He must struggle to break the political stranglehold on him and on those he loves - struggle for his last rights.