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I MUST BETRAY YOU

Ruta Sepetys

A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray.
Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a poet and philosopher. But Romanians aren't free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the grip of the maniacal dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu and a country governed by lies, deceit, isolation, and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He's left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves - or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil regime in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to expose the truth behind the regime, to give his people a voice, and to tell the world what is happening in Romania. And he is eager to join in the revolution and fight for change when the time arrives. But the cost of a better future comes at the expense of broken hearts and lives lost.

Masterful storyteller Ruta Sepetys is back with a historical thriller that examines the little-known history of a nation defined by its secrecy and lies, and the unwavering conviction of the human spirit, even - and especially - in the face of hardship, sacrifice, and war.

Ruta Sepetys (rutasepetys.com) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Sepetys is considered a "crossover" novelist, as her books are read by both teens and adults worldwide. Her novels Between Shades of Gray, Out of the Easy, Salt to the Sea, and The Fountains of Silence have won or been shortlisted for more than forty book prizes, and are included on more than sixty state award lists. Between Shades of Gray was adapted into the film Ashes in the Snow, and her other novels are currently in development for TV and film. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Ruta is passionate about the power of history and literature to foster global awareness and connectivity. She has presented to NATO, to the European Parliament, in the United States Capitol, and at embassies worldwide. Ruta was born and raised in Michigan and now lives with her family in Nashville, Tennessee.
Available products
Book

Published 2022-02-01 by Philomel

Book

Published 2022-02-01 by Philomel

Comments

Sepetys unveils the culture of constant surveillance in communist Romania through an ominously suspenseful historical novel set at the brink of revolution... As the betrayals' nuances become clear via interspersed intelligence reports, Cristian's tense first-person narrative foregrounds stark historical realities (families keep an inventory of American cigarettes as black market currency, police ruthlessly beat protesters), unflinchingly confronting deprivations and cruelty while balancing them with perseverance and hope as Romania hurtles toward political change.

As educational as it is thrilling... [T]he power of I Must Betray You [is] it doesn't just describe the destabilizing effects of being spied on; it will make you experience them too.

Sepetys's latest book maintains the caliber readers have come to expect from an author whose focus on hidden histories has made her a YA powerhouse of historical -fiction... Romania blossoms under Sepetys's attention to detail... Mysterious as it is thrilling, the book's short chapters create an -atmosphere of impending danger leading to a historical event in Eastern Europe that may be unknown to many yet is necessary to be told... Sepetys is a formidable writer, and her stories declare the need to write about global issues of social injustice. For that reason and her attention to detail, this is a must-read.

A master class in pacing and atmosphere.

I MUST BETRAY YOU by Ruta Sepetys wins the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers' Choice Medal!

Sepetys once again masterfully portrays a dark, forgotten corner of history: Bucharest, Romania, winter 1989... By focusing on one voice, 17-year-old Cristian Florescu, Sepetys amplifies the isolation, fear, and uncertainty experienced during the final months of Ceauescu's regime... Cristian's short, almost breathless first-person chapters are interspersed with chilling interview reports by his assigned Securitate agent... Suspenseful twists continue to the very end, when Cristian's betrayer is revealed. The back matter, too, is fascinating.

'I Must Betray You' has been longlisted for the UKLA Awards 2024! Read more...

Ruta Sepetys I MUST BETRAY YOU is an instant #1 New York Times bestseller! (YA Hardback) Read more...

UK: Hodder ; Albanian: Media Print ; Bosnian: Boybook ; Bulgaria: Ciela Norma ; Croatian: Znanje ; Czech: Albtaros ; Dutch: Luitingh-Sijthoff ; French: Gallimard ; Greek: Dioptra ; Hungarian: Maxim ; Indonesian: PT Elex Media ; Italian: Garzanti ; Japanese: Iwanami Shoten ; Lithuanian: Alma Littera ; Norwegian: Cappelen Damm ; Polish: Unak ; Portuguese (Portugal): Oresenca ; Portuguese (Brazil): Editora Alta ; Romanian: Epica ; Spanish: Maeva

Sepetys brilliantly blends a staggering amount of research with heart, craft, and insight in a way very few writers can. ... the novel crackles with energy... The last line will leave readers gasping. Compulsively readable and brilliant.