Nora & John

Times Literary Supplement: Narrative that is direct, candid, unpretentious. Reflecting all that is strange and incomprehensible about Soviet WWII Russia.

A member of a highly privileged caste in Soviet society… reduced to a ‘mozho’ girl mixing with foreigners, with instructions to report on them… the real story is in the simple, graphic and almost entirely persuasive account of her observations – some amusing and others horribly or pitifully gruesome. She emerged from a fantastic situation as the wife of the secretary to the British Naval Attaché in Moscow (Mr Murray), with Soviet permission to leave with him for England.

Oxford Mail: A woman of infinite ingenuity, persistence and great courage. The book would make an admirable film on the lines of “Odette”.

Yorkshire Observer: As a work of fiction one would have regarded it as highly exciting and admirably constructed. Yet, astonishingly, every word is true. 

Yorkshire Evening Press:  How she fell in love and married the man she was forced to spy on is admirably told, but nothing could be more thrilling than her ultimate escape from the secret police.

Yorkshire Post: Told with a simplicity that carries conviction, and with a narrative skill that makes it as absorbing as any novel.

Aberdeen Express: A remarkable story of personal courage. The revelations are grim and often terrifying.

Birmingham Gazette: A curious story, dramatic, moving and always interesting.

Cambridge Daily News: A curious human story. 

Good Housekeeper: Told without melodrama or hysterics and indeed with a calmness and sympathy that is surprising. The story is of an immensely courageous woman.

STAFFORD EVENING SENTINEL: confirms much of what has already been written about the grim conditions of life under the Soviet system

LIVERPOOL ECHO: Lieut.-General Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane “As an example of initiative, drive and sheer pluck Nora’s adventures and success were truly remarkable.”

PEOPLE: Thrilling and true