Past and Present

Though most of the novel's action takes place in the present, Silva makes frequent references to the past as well. The two intertwine so as to suggest that the past has an inalienable link to the present and that events from the past are as alive and vibrant as those happening in present day. One of the central conflicts of the book is the product of a plot hatched by Kim Philby, Sasha, and Charlotte decades before the events of the novel. Frequent references to dialogue and events from the 1950s and 60s effectively intertwine the two so as to make them inextricable. For example, Charlotte Bettencourt lives with one foot in the past and one in the present; she regards the former with nostalgia as she recalls "the long boozy lunches at the St. Georges and the Normandie, the picnics in the hills...