Why a Booktrail?
1940s: A double life is no life at all.
A Quiet Life
What you need to know before your trail
Since the disappearance of her husband in 1951, Laura Leverett has been living in limbo with her daughter in Geneva. All others see is her conventional, charming exterior; nobody guesses the secret she is carrying.
Her double life began years ago, when she stepped on to the boat which carried her across the Atlantic in 1939. Eager to learn, and eager to love, she found herself suddenly inspired by a young Communist woman she met on the boat. In London she begins to move between two different worlds. One night at a party she meets a man who seems to her to combine both worlds, but who is hiding a secret bigger than she could ever imagine.
Love grows, but so do fear and danger. This is the warm-blooded story of the Cold War.
Travel Guide
This story is partly inspired by that of Melinda Maclean, a woman whose husband Donald was one of the Cambridge spies.
England – London
In London she begins to move between two different worlds – from the urbane society of her cousins and their upper class friends. She finds herself caught up in his hidden life. Much of the novel follows events in Donal’s life such as with his defection in 1951.
Washington at the height of McCarthyism
At the time of the novel, McCarthyism was at its peak – this was “the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.” It is named after U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and the years between 1947 to 1956 which was characterized by heightened political repression as well as a campaign spreading fear of influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: A Quiet Life
Author/Guide: Natasha Walter Destination: London, Washington, Switzerland Departure Time: 1950s
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