Very good. Reads at times like some kind of Orwellian nightmare. But of course this was life under an oppressive dictatorship in Romania.

Alina and her husband become people of interest to the security services after her brother-in-law defects to the West. Thereafter theirs lives are under constant scrutiny, with eyes everywhere - at work, on the street and even within their own family.

The building sense of claustrophobia is very well rendered and the incorporation of Romanian folk tales into the narrative is done with great skill. Excellent and very effective writing. I very much enjoyed it.