A former Moscow correspondent for The Times, Anna Blundy has lived and worked in Russia on many occasions, doing a variety of things, from singing in a blues band in the early 90s and making coffee for the ABC News Bureau, to interviewing Mikhail Gorbachev live in Russian on Radio Svoboda in 1998. She wrote a single girl column for The Times magazine in her twenties and now writes a column for them about Italy, where she lives. She has worked as a correspondent for CNN and SKY and is a regular guest on American ABC's political discussion show World View from London. She is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir of her father David Blundy (killed in El Salvador by a sniper when she was nineteen) and of five novels about war correspondent, Faith Zanetti. She is married with two children and lives in a hilltop village in Tuscany.
This wildly romantic and powerfully atmospheric novel takes us from the cramped, steaming kitchens of Nowhereski, Siberia, to the presidential suites of the world's best hotels. Like all rags-to-riches stories, the rags are the best bit. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to read it again, instantly. * Daily Mail * Fast-paced ... a thrilling story about power and love ... A gripping read. * Sun * A classy and compelling read with an ending that does not disappoint. * Hampshire Chronicle * A refreshingly cliche-free saga of international conspiracy and high-risk love affairs, Blundy's book is excellent at capturing alien cityscapes through an outsider's eyes * Independent *