The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry

 

The Dictator's Wife by Freya Berry.

Published 17th February 2022 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

WOMAN
I learned early in life how to survive. A skill that became vital in my position.

WIFE
I was given no power, yet I was expected to hold my own with the most powerful man in the country.

MOTHER OF THE NATION
My people were my children. I stood between him and them.

I am not the person they say I am.
I am not my husband.
I am innocent.

Do you believe me?

Visceral and thought provoking, haunting and heartbreaking, The Dictator's Wife will hold you in its grip until its powerful conclusion, and keep you turning the pages long into the night.

***********

Laura Lăzărescu was born in the former communist state of Yanussia, a country ruled by the rigid dictator Constantin Popa, from his rise to power in the wake of World War II. She remembers little about it beyond the scattered recollections of a happy childhood, for she and her parents managed to escape when she was seven years old, fleeing the watchful the eye of the Secret Police, the Strajă, for a life of 'freedom' in Britain - a new life that only seemed to make them unhappy.

It's now 1993, and Constantin Popa is dead, torn apart by a rioting crowd during an uprising in 1989. Laura is returning to Yanussia as a junior associate on the legal team appointed to defend the woman who was once lauded as the Mother of the Nation, his wife, the beautiful and charismatic Marìja Popa - now rather less flatteringly known as The Black Widow.

Marija stands charged with the crimes committed by her husband, including corruption on a staggering scale. The new regime is determined that the death penalty will be her fate, and her legal team need to somehow prove that she had no knowledge of what he was up to, a task that is going to be an uphill struggle when even the first step in the process is proving to be tricky - after all how did a couple ostensibly earning only twenty thousand dollars a year afford the luxuries they surrounded themselves with, including a priceless Picasso?

But the legal challenges are not the only thing causing Laura consternation. She was completely unprepared for the impact of being thrust back into a country which seems to have improved little from Popa's time. Even though the once all seeing Strajă has been disbanded, the feeling of being watched is ever present, and the atmosphere in Casa Iubită, Marija's family home, where they are being confined for their 'safety', is stifling. 

Then, or course, there is the enigmatic woman herself, Marija Popa. Laura unexpectedly finds herself under her spell, caught in a web of secrets and lies that tie them together through a mystery surrounding Laura's own family. Is Marija guilty or innocent, and is she manipulating Laura for her own ends?

"Perception is real, and the truth is not."

Imelda Marcos

Where do I start? My goodness, this is one of those books that compels you to devour it in one delicious sitting! Freya Berry conjures up absolute magic here with her portrayal the most mysterious of characters, the woman who stands at the side of a dictator, and forces you to address the questions we all want to know the answers to... How much does she know about the dastardly deeds of her husband? Is she controlled, or complicit?

"History is written by the victors, after all, an these are always men. Labelling someone as a monster is so convenient. It means we never have to examine what made them so."

Firstly, Berry creates the perfect setting for her characters to play out their tortured games. Yanussia is a former communist state based closely on Romania, and many of the scenes and policies she describes are inspired by the detailed research she undertook about the history of that country under its own tyrannical dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. This brings a real feeling of authenticity to the piece, but it is not just this that makes it so delectable. In setting her story in 1993, Berry allows herself to run riot with a backdrop that is steeped in the chaos of Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Yanussia stands as the epitome of the struggles of a former communist state not only trying to break free of the shadows of its past - but also to show the world that it is atoning for its sins. The atmosphere, the suspicion, the balancing act of a new regime, the social and economic unrest, and intriguingly the re-education of a population that has been indoctrinated from birth to consider its former leaders as 'saviours', are threads perfectly woven into the story.

"Our client was a hypnotic blend of Joan of Arc and Imelda Marcos; both goddess and she-devil, princess and tyrant, martyr and uber-bitch."

And then, we have Marija herself. Marija is the heart of this tale and you find yourself holding your breath whenever she appears. Beautifully drawn to encapsulate everything the iconic wife of a dictator has been shown to be, she is charismatic, beautiful, poised, and unfathomable. There are echoes of many of the women we know from history in Marija, especially Eva Peron and Imelda Marcos, with the unmistakable seductive charm of the velvet glove that softens the blow of the iron fist. Through Marija Berry explores the female side of the dictator equation, delving into thought provoking themes of complicity, the way women wield power, and how their guilt is ascribed following the death of their husbands, while her relationship with Laura drives us to confront the blacks, whites and all the shades of grey that are part of her make up - before clawing through her web of deceit with the blood red talons of the shocking truth.

"I wanted Marija to be innocent; I wanted her to be the wicked witch, stuffing children into the oven. I could not decide what she was, and that was the torment."

Along the way, there are cleverly wielded elements that deal with mother-daughter relationships and the notion of sacrifice that are really interesting too, and Berry uses the motifs of the colour red, honey bees, and hands around necks to great effect throughout.

This book is a stunning debut, beautifully written in a style that has you frequently stopping short to admire clever use of breath-taking simile and metaphor (have your note book handy to jot them down, because these are gold!). I cannot encourage you enough to read this one, as it held me spellbound from the first page to the last, and I seriously need more Freya Berry in my life!

The Dictator's Wife is available to buy now in hardback, ebook and audio formats from your favourote book retailer.

Thank you to Headline for sending me a hardback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Freya Berry has always loved stories, but it took several years as a Reuters journalist for her to realise she prefer the kind of truth that lies in fiction, not reality...That said, the inspiration for The Dictator's Wife came while reporting on the 2016 US election. She's fascinated by public perception and private fact; by ambiguity and the manipulation of truth; and by how our rational minds can so easily be overpowered by fear, and glamour.

The Dictator's Wife is set in Eastern Europe, where she travelled for several months as research, hearing stories of lives under Communism and having many adventures, including on her first night when she was teargassed while attending an anti-government protest in Bucharest.

Before all this, she studied English at Cambridge, and now lives between London and the beautiful beaches of Wales. One day she swears she will learn to surf.