Published 7th February 2019 by Sandstone Press.
From the cover of the book:
You'd know if you were a spy... Wouldn't you?Escaping failure as an undergraduate and a daughter, not to mention bleak 1970s England, Martha marries Kit - who is gay. Having a wife could keep him safe in Moscow in his diplomatic post. As Martha tries to understand her new life and makes the wrong friends, she walks straight into an underground world of counter-espionage.
Out of her depth, Martha no longer knows who can be trusted.
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1972: Martha is in trouble... again. At least in the eyes of the Cambridge University dons and her staid upper middle class parents. Sent down from Cambridge for daring to protest about women's rights, she finds herself back in the strangling atmosphere of her parental home, destined to never escape the dutiful life they have planned out for her.
But Martha has a plan. Her brother's friend Kit is off to Moscow to perform dodgy deeds under the guise of a respectable diplomat, and Martha is very keen to escape her current predicament and go along for the ride. Fortunately, Kit sees the advantages in having a wife at his side, especially since it will distract from the fact that he is gay, so a hastily arranged marriage ensues.
Martha cannot wait to experience the romantic Moscow she has read about, but things are not quite as she expected when she eventually finds herself living in a tiny apartment on Leninsky Prospekt, having replaced the disapproving eye of her parents for the strictures placed on Embassy wives and the constant surveillance of the security services. Despite having no idea how to behave in this strange world of subterfuge and endless mind-games, or who it is safe to become friends with, Martha finds herself falling in love with Moscow's secret, wild places, and inspired by a book of short stories that fate has brought into her possession, she maps them out during her lonely days in the city. She is desperate to make this enigmatic city her home, but how much of herself is she willing to sacrifice in the process?
The Wolves of Leninsky Prospekt is an incredible combination of coming of age story and espionage thriller, with a deep vein of allegorical folklore. This makes it something of a cut above the when it comes to the wonderful way Sarah Armstrong creates the immersive Cold War atmosphere that envelopes you throughout this book.
Martha's independent nature proves her to be completely unsuited to the life of a diplomat's wife. Not for her the life of the dutiful little woman, living only to protect the reputation of her family, and support the career of her husband - especially when she discovers the reality of the closed off existence the Moscow wives are expected to lead. She wants so much more. I really admired this about her, but is seems obvious from the start that this is going to lead her into dangerous waters. It is this side of her character that makes her the perfect target to be tempted by those on the other side - and they know exactly how to strike at the heart of her disaffection.
Armstrong plays with some really interesting themes in the telling of this tale. We are in the heart of well-trodden Cold War country, with watchful eyes everywhere, where it is impossible to know who to trust, and yet she comes at this from an entirely new perspective - that of the women who have found themselves living in this world. I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of class, sex, women's rights, and entitlement through the eyes of Martha, and the way folklore, heavy with hidden symbolism, is used to drive the story to its inevitable conclusion. The way Armstrong spins the notion of the 'wolf' throughout the threads of the tale is simply beautiful. Who is the wolf? Good question, to which there are no easy answers, and so many shades of meaning.
This is, on first sight, a simple tale of a woman who falls in love with a city, and through this developing relationship discovers the truth about herself, but there is so much more to take from this story, and its layers are like the secret meanings within the lines of the folktales that are sprinkled throughout the text - gradually becoming darker and more twisted as events play out. I adored it and urge you to discover for yourself what lies at the frozen heart of the wolves of Leninsky Prospekt - I guarantee you will enjoy finding out their secrets for yourself.
The Wolves of Leninsky Prospekt is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer. Book two in the Moscow Wolves series, The Starlings of Bucharest is also now available, and is every bit as good as this one. See my review of Book Two HERE.
She teaches undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing with the Open University.
Sarah lives in Colchester with her husband and four children.
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