Our Woman in Moscow

now in bookstores

Now in bookstores, a gripping and profoundly human drama of Cold War espionage and family devotion, inspired by the shocking history of the Cambridge spy ring.

An IndieNext pick for June

A LibraryReads pick for June

An AppleBooks Digital Audio Must Listen pick for June

A Best of Summer pick from Goodreads, Bustle, PopSugar, Frolic, BuzzFeed, shereads, RealSimple, and more

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In the autumn of 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. The world is shocked by the family’s sensational disappearance. Were they eliminated by the Soviet intelligence service? Or have the Digbys defected to Moscow with a trove of the West’s most vital secrets?

Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from the twin sister she hasn’t seen since their catastrophic parting in Rome in the summer of 1940, as war engulfed the continent and Iris fell desperately in love with an enigmatic United States Embassy official named Sasha Digby. Within days, Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of counterintelligence agent Sumner Fox in a precarious plot to extract the Digbys from behind the Iron Curtain.

But the complex truth behind Iris’s marriage defies Ruth’s understanding, and as the sisters race toward safety, a dogged Soviet KGB officer forces them to make a heartbreaking choice between two irreconcilable loyalties.

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Praise for Our Woman in Moscow

  • [A] superb Cold War-era spy thriller.

    — Seattle Times

  • Williams has a sure hand in this deceptively quiet novel.

    — LibraryJournal (starred review)

  • This is Williams at the top of her game.

    — Historical Novel Society

  • Our Woman in Moscow may be one of the top historical fiction offerings of 2021.

    — Mystery & Suspense Magazine

  • Captivating.

    — RealSimple

  • Historical fiction fans will be riveted by the complex family relationships and the intriguing portrayal of espionage.

    — Publishers Weekly

  • Williams’ thrilling Cold-War era spy novel perfectly portrays the ambiance of the era.

    — Palm Beach Daily News

  • A tale of of two indomitable woman...fine entertainment with, as it happens, a kindly heart.

    — Minneapolis Star Tribune

  • Readers are transported to 1948 in this emotionally gripping story of Cold War espionage.

    — Woman's World

  • Williams, effectively juggling the narrative between the points of view of Ruth, Iris, and a Russian KGB agent, moves back and forth in time to build all the principals into full-bodied characters while delivering detail-rich portraits of wartime Italy, glittery fifties Manhattan, and grayed-out Moscow.

    — Booklist

For inside information on Our Woman in Moscow, including author interview and historical backdrop, open the Reading Group Kit

OurWomanInMoscowReadingGroupKit

Publicity contact: Brittani Hilles at HarperCollins: Brittani.Hilles@harpercollins.com