A gripping, utterly absorbing novel about survival and art as defiance on the 1930s Berlin stage, from the bestselling author of The Woman from Saint Germain

Berlin 1932: With the country in chaos, Monika Varády, a young Bavarian actress, arrives in Germany's capital with high hopes - to one day, just maybe, be a great star of the stage and screen.

But with the rise to power of Hitler and his brutal Nazi regime, the theatre scene falls under the control of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, becoming a minefield of political machinations that Monika, in love with a Bolshevik Jewish actor, must now navigate. As her star rises from the smoky bars of the demi-monde to the city's prestigious stages, most dangerous of all is Goebbels himself who takes a more-than-artistic interest in her.

While staying true to her beliefs and to those she loves, Monika must employ all the skills of her craft to outwit Goebbels and with her close friends, to resist the regime's attempts to brutalise theatre and culture by hiding in plain sight and in the glare of the spotlight.