The things we do for love - Lisa Appignanesi

An intriguing, compulsive romantic thriller from the highly acclaimed author of A Good Woman and Memory and Desire.

How well do you know the person you're married to?

Cambridge. Tessa and Stephen's marriage is quietly foundering. She wants a baby, but seemingly cannot have one. Stephen, an introverted scientist, will not talk about it. Tessa can't talk about anything else.

A mysterious French voice on the ansaphone leads her to suspect Stephen of infidelity. When he leaves for a conference in Paris, Tess - impulsively, uncharacteristically - decides to follow him.

But once abroad, Stephen is no longer the quiet Englishman. He has a network of contacts, overt and covert, from Paris to Prague, through which information has been disseminated since Cold War days. But now the political barriers are down, free enterprise is sweeping the scientific community. Information is power, power is money. And Stephen has a uniquely valuable project stored on his laptop.

As the frontiers change - geographic, scientific, personal - as the shifting balance between the sexes leads to expanding expectations, Stephen and Tessa must weigh their new knowledge of each other against the age-old desires for companionship, satisfaction and passion.