The Betrayal

The Betrayal is a 2010 historical novel by English writer Helen Dunmore. It is set in Leningrad in 1952, ten years after the Siege of Leningrad, and takes place during political repression in the Soviet Union and the plot against doctors in the Stalin era. The book was longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize, and shortlisted for the 2011 Commonwealth Writer's Prize and the Orwell Prize. The Betrayal is the second of a two-book series. The first, The Siege was published in 2001 and is set in Leningrad during the siege. Synopsis Anna, Andrei and Kolya have survived the siege of Leningrad. Anna and Andrei marry and live in the city where she is a nursery-school teacher and he is a paediatrician at the local hospital. It is 1952 and they live in Joseph Stalin's repressive regime where it is prudent not to draw attention to yourself. Andrei unwittingly takes on the case of a young boy, Gorya, who has a cancerous tumour in his leg. The child is the son of Volkov, a Commissar of State Security, and while Andrei knows the dangers if things go wrong, he is determined to give the boy the best possible care. Andrei tells Volkov the only course of action to prevent the cancer spreading is to amputate Gorya's leg. Volkov is unhappy with this decision, particularly because Brodskaya, the surgeon who will perform the operation, is Jewish. Andrei insists that she is an excellent surgeon and Volkov reluctantly agrees to the amputation. The operation is successful, and after intensive physiotherapy, Gorya is discharged.