My American mother, Virginia Cowles had made a great name for herself as a trail blazing war correspondent, covering the Spanish Civil War when she was only 26. My mother went on be a very successful historian. My father, Aidan Crawley was a politician, a journalist and a very good writer too…so I guess you could say I had writing in my blood. Dacha of Boris Pasternak in Peredelkino (c) Harriet Crawley BookTrail the locations in The Translator

The Translator | Spy Thriller Book - Harriet Crawley

Marina is part of Serov's inner circle, but she is embittered by the strain of living on a knife-edge and the impact it has had on her personal life. Clive's appearance stirs feelings she thought were long buried, and through him she sees a possibility that she might escape the position she is in. When Marina discovers a devious plot to target the undersea cables that link the USA and the UK, she confides to Clive that is is willing to betray her country by discovering all she can about the plans, in return for a new identity. Set in Moscow and centred on a devastating Russian plot to sabotage the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK, this is not only a sizzling and pacy thriller, but a passionate love story between two people determined to stop this cataclysmic act. We’ve heard of some unusual writing habits over the years, what would you say is your most interesting writing quirk? For me the plot is always the most difficult, and it is a huge challenge to make it watertight and plausible. If the plot is not credible, the whole book falls apart. A tight plot requires tremendous attention to detail…every piece of the puzzle must fall in place. Sometimes one piece will not fall into place, and you can spend days finding a solution. First and foremost, I wanted to be a writer. The crime/suspense element came later. My first novel, The Goddaughter was published by Weidenfeld in 1975. My second novel, The Lovers and The Loved was published by Heineman in 1990. These are straightforward novels, love stories.

It also gave me my main characters, who are almost all Russians. I modelled Vera, Clive’s Russian teacher on my wonderful Aunt Galia, who died a few years ago. I was glad she never lived to see this dreadful war in Ukraine. My son Spencer was born in 1987. In 1988 both my brothers tragically died in an aeroplane crash and we went to live with my father (my mother had died in 1983). W ritten by an insider: Harriet Crawley lived in Moscow for many years, working in the energy sector at a time of exploding wealth concentration and increasingly violent political repression. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

The Translator by Harriet Crawley | Goodreads

On reading this book, one could be forgiven for thinking you have heard all of it before, because, unless you avoid all uk news, you most probably have heard it all before. A paragraph on the rear of the book from a paper written by none other than Rishi Sunak should have warned me to steer clear but i paid little attention at the time as i was quite excited to find a new novel that centres on a subject i have been following for many years. From my front window I could almost glimpse St. Basil’s. Almost, but not quite. But I carried the cupolas in my mind’s eye. Their twisted shapes seemed to mirror the twisted mind of the Russian President in my book. Serov imagines himself to be a figurehead and true descendant of the Stalin era, Old Mother Russia needs to be restored to her original boundaries, regardless of the toes he tramples on or the losses he causes. Clive is asked to step in to translate for the British PM in Russia where he finds himself drawn into the insidious intrigues of the Russians, and also surprised to find his ex-girlfriend in the midst of this dangerous game of political chess.

The central character voted for her because he "is tired of men destroying the planet", he voted for her merely "because she was a woman". It was the remarkable Patricia Highsmith who steered me in the direction of crime/suspense with her book Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction. Also, John Le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy made a huge impression. My third novel Painted Lady was my first attempt at ‘suspense fiction’ and was published in 1994. And now, my second suspense novel is The Translator, published by Bitter Lemon Press, 29 years after my last book. So, there is hope for us all! Written by an insider, Harriet Crawley lived in Moscow for many years, working in the energy sector at a time of exploding wealth concentration and increasingly violent political repression. The Translator is just my kind of Russian spy thriller. Harriet Crawley enfolds you a very timely espionage story that highlights everything about the current complexities of the political situation between Russia and the West, while evoking all those Cold War vibes that I adore.