The Valley of Unknowing, Philip Sington

When the Berlin wall went up it may as well have frozen East Germany in time. No one speaks out against socialist ideals because state security has informers everywhere. Life is hard, and dirty and short if you get caught saying the wrong thing.

In this choking climate Bruno Krug, author of The Orphans of Neustadt falls for Austrian music student Teresa. He is also reading a manuscript as a favour to his editor. This work has no title or author and not only is it disturbingly good, but it echoes Krug’s earlier book.

When the person Krug thinks is the author dies suddenly Krug has the book smuggled to the West where the book and Krug’s protégé take on a life of their own. But who really wrote The Valley of Unknowing? How many more lies and betrayals will it spawn?