
The Exile
Patrick Worrall(Author)
Penguin (Transworld) (Publisher)
Published on 16. January 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-1-5291-7618-6 (ISBN)
Description
'An espionage story of high literary calibre' Strong Words Magazine
'A dramatic and thoroughly immersive account of loyalty, ideology and betrayal' Guardian
'A terrific new voice in spy fiction...A complex, action packed portrait of a continent in ferment' Mail on Sunday
'In remarkably granular detail, Worrall conjures up a Fifties Paris where historical and fictional characters coexist' Sunday Times
________________
It's 1951 and the servants of Stalin are closing in on the occupied nations of eastern Europe. As the Red Army tightens the net, Greta - best and bravest of freedom fighters - is told to escape to the West and undertake a dangerous mission.
Greta's task is to find a missing girl: the precious daughter of a partisan general who was sent into exile in the final days of the war.
But the so-called Free World is no place for vulnerable young refugees. Europe is in ruins, the old Empires are dying, and a spectacular cast of spivs, gangsters and rival intelligence agencies are fighting over the scraps.
Crossing the Iron Curtain will require nerves of steel as Greta faces down the French mob, ex-Nazis, Soviet spies, all the glamour and temptation of Paris and ultimately, her own demons.
The Exile is a white-knuckle ride into the black heart of postwar Europe - a terrifying world in which allies and enemies are impossible to tell apart.
________
Praise for The Partisan
'Fast-paced, intriguing and deeply atmospheric' Tom Bradby
'Remarkedly assured debut ... the advent of a real talent...One to watch' Sunday Times
'Impressive ... The scene-setting is finely detailed and evocative, the characters skilfully drawn' Financial Times
'Immersive, intriguing, and intelligent - incredibly impressive, up there with the best in the genre' Lee Child
Patrick Worrall, The Bookseller bestseller, July 2023
'A dramatic and thoroughly immersive account of loyalty, ideology and betrayal' Guardian
'A terrific new voice in spy fiction...A complex, action packed portrait of a continent in ferment' Mail on Sunday
'In remarkably granular detail, Worrall conjures up a Fifties Paris where historical and fictional characters coexist' Sunday Times
________________
It's 1951 and the servants of Stalin are closing in on the occupied nations of eastern Europe. As the Red Army tightens the net, Greta - best and bravest of freedom fighters - is told to escape to the West and undertake a dangerous mission.
Greta's task is to find a missing girl: the precious daughter of a partisan general who was sent into exile in the final days of the war.
But the so-called Free World is no place for vulnerable young refugees. Europe is in ruins, the old Empires are dying, and a spectacular cast of spivs, gangsters and rival intelligence agencies are fighting over the scraps.
Crossing the Iron Curtain will require nerves of steel as Greta faces down the French mob, ex-Nazis, Soviet spies, all the glamour and temptation of Paris and ultimately, her own demons.
The Exile is a white-knuckle ride into the black heart of postwar Europe - a terrifying world in which allies and enemies are impossible to tell apart.
________
Praise for The Partisan
'Fast-paced, intriguing and deeply atmospheric' Tom Bradby
'Remarkedly assured debut ... the advent of a real talent...One to watch' Sunday Times
'Impressive ... The scene-setting is finely detailed and evocative, the characters skilfully drawn' Financial Times
'Immersive, intriguing, and intelligent - incredibly impressive, up there with the best in the genre' Lee Child
Patrick Worrall, The Bookseller bestseller, July 2023
Reviews / Votes
Worrall wonderfully conjures the maelstrom of postwar France... a dramatic and thoroughly immersive account of loyalty, ideology and betrayal * Guardian * In remarkably granular detail, Worrall conjures up a Fifties Paris where historical and fictional characters coexist * Sunday Times * A terrific new voice in spy fiction...A complex, action packed portrait of a continent in ferment * Mail on Sunday * Praise for Patrick Worrall * : * The advent of a real talent...One to watch. * Sunday Times * Immersive, intriguing, and intelligent - incredibly impressive, up there with the best in the genre. * Lee Child * A superb and immensely enjoyable read from an excitingly fresh and original new voice. * James Holland *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
264 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5291-7618-6 (9781529176186)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2024
Transworld Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Patrick Worrall was educated at a comprehensive school in Worcestershire and King's College, Cambridge. He has worked as a teacher in eastern Europe and Asia, a newspaper journalist, a court reporter at the Old Bailey, and the head of the Channel 4 News FactCheck blog. His first novel, The Partisan, was inspired by a World War Two photograph of three young female freedom fighters he saw in a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Exile, his second novel, is a prequel to The Partisan. The Aristocracy is his third novel.