The House of Special Purpose - John Boyne

Eighty-year-old Georgy Jachmenchev is haunted by his past - a past of death, suffering and scandal that will stay with him until the end of his days. Living in England, with his beloved wife Zoya, Georgy prepares to make one final journey, back to the Russia he once knew and loved, the Russia that both destroyed and defined him. As Georgy remembers days gone by, we are transported on an exciting and emotive journey to St Petersburg in the early twentieth century, to the Winter Palace of the Tsar and his family. It was a time of change, threat and bloody revolution. And, as Georgy overturns the most painful stone of all, we uncover a truly horrifying story, the story of 'the house of special purpose', a so-called safe house that was in fact a place of confinement, destruction and death. Spanning over eighty years and moving from Russia to Paris to London, The House of Special Purpose is a sweeping, epic read from a truly accomplished author.