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* One of the Independent’s Best Books of 2022 *

‘A book so full of steel and compassion that it stands glitteringly apart’ Rachel Cusk

‘A piercingly evocative East-West love story’ The Times

‘Atmospheric and gloriously vivid’ Guardian
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Two worlds on the brink of change in a love story doomed to disaster

Milena is a Red Princess living in a Soviet Satellite state in the 1980s. She enjoys limitless luxury and limited freedom; the end of the Cold War seems unimaginable.

When she meets Jason, a confident British poet, Milena is appalled by his political naivety and his poor choice of footwear. Still, they fall into bed together, and before long Milena is secretly planning to escape to Britain.

1980s London defies her privileged expectations. The rented flat is grim and the food is disgusting but she is with the man she loves and there are no hidden cameras to record her every move. But then Milena discovers that Jason’s idea of freedom hurts even more…

With sharp wit and tender precision, Vesna Goldsworthy unpicks the failures of family and state. Iron Curtain is a sly, elegant human drama that challenges the myths we tell ourselves.

‘A pacy page-turner… Full of humour, pathos and poignancy’ Irish Independent

‘Vesna Goldsworthy’s finely wrought third novel explodes into life… Potent’ Spectator

‘A wonderful, perfectly-pitched novel: full of delightful intrigue and wry insight about the human predicament and its unique tensions’ William Boyd

Publisher Review

Vesna Goldsworthy's masterly novel retains the grace and resilience of literary art while wading deep into the most riveting human drama... Goldsworthy is at once the most impartial and the tenderest of observers, a bold dramatist and a subtle humorist -- Rachel Cusk A wonderful, perfectly-pitched novel: full of delightful intrigue and wry insight about the human predicament and its unique tensions -- William Boyd Original and memorable... a profound understanding of the timeless realities of love, betrayal and the desire for revenge -- Pat Barker An extraordinary evocation of two wildly contrasted worlds... Vesna Goldsworthy writes so well! -- Michael Frayn Gripping... With grace and a dose of forgiveness, Goldsworthy performs a heartbreaking but exhilarating evisceration of the myths by which we live now -- Nancy K. Miller