Ruta Sepetys
Books by Ruta Sepetys
I Must Betray You
by Ruta Sepetys
***2023 Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal***
A gripping historical novel set in Bucharest in 1989. With hindsight readers know that the Ceaușescu regime will fall by Christmas, but at the start of the book Cristian — a 17 year old schoolboy — is blackmailed to become one of the many civilian informers for the regime. The author clearly takes her background research seriously, using interviews to get a feel for the human story in addition to a very wide range of written sources. I Must Betray You vividly brings to life the atmosphere of constant suspicion and fear, what it is like to grow up without any private space to be yourself, and the damage that the inability to trust anyone does to friendships and family relationships.
