The Betrayals

Bridget Collins

The new novel by the bestselling author of The Binding is set in an unnamed European country in the 1930s where the unlikable but oddly charismatic Leo Martin is returning to his old college Montverre, an elite academy high in the mountains. There, pupils are trained to compete in the national game, the “grand jeu”, a beguiling mix of music, maths and meditation that aims to be a “communion with the divine”.

Sacked from his role as minister of culture for disagreeing with his party’s increasingly fascist views, Leo is sent to Montverre to spy on the grand jeu and ensure it remains pure. There, he rediscovers his old passion for the place.

But it awakens old memories of a complicated relationship with his rival and friend, the arrogant, aristocratic Carfax, who also bears a mysterious resemblance to the new Magister Ludi (the highest office in the college) Claire Dryden.

Suave, smug Leo is irresistibly drawn to and dismayed by Claire, who quietly smoulders with suppressed emotions and secrets, and whose reaction to Leo is a blend of suspicion and attraction, a push-pull of emotions eerily similar to the Leo/Carfax dynamic.

Both have secrets to hide and must make decisions that aren’t entirely plausible – a flaw in an otherwise captivating book – and, as the threat of fascism comes ever closer, truths are revealed and trust is undermined by betrayal.

An immersive, imaginative slice of storytelling.