I also studied Russian and have been to Moscow so the descriptions and language added another layer of interest for me (not that you need to know the first think about Russia or indeed Russian to read this book). As for the writing process, I try and work 10am to 2 or 3pm, and then take a break. I used to read through and correct later in the day, but on the whole, I have stopped doing that. With The Translator I was doing far too much rewriting and correcting, before my first draft was finished, and one day I just stopped and forced myself to keep going to the end of the book, finish a first draft, and only then to rewrite.

The Translator’s Russian Locations with Harriet Crawley The Translator’s Russian Locations with Harriet Crawley

Set in Moscow and centred on a devastating Russian plot to sabotage the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK, this is not only a sizzling and pacy thriller, but a passionate love story between two people determined to stop this cataclysmic act My son Spencer was born in 1987. In 1988 both my brothers tragically died in an aeroplane crash and we went to live with my father (my mother had died in 1983). Map of the main locations in The Translator Harriet Crawley BookTrail the locations in The Translator The sense of place is excellent in The Translator and as the story progresses, the tension and pace ratchet up, symbolically mirrored in the two main characters running the Moscow Marathon, the FSB hard on their heels. The characters were well built through the novel and I found myself routing for Clive and Marina and thoroughly disliking General Varlamov.In the 1970s I started an art business with my two brothers and from 1975-79 I lived and worked in Teheran. I also spent a lot of time in Hong Kong holding exhibitions. You’ve had quite the varied career – when did you start writing fiction? What made you want to start the long, often arduous, process of writing a book? This spy novel would be super on the telly! Crawley speaks Russian and lived and worked in Moscow for years, so her vision of Moscow should be spot on. When Clive Franklin is seconded to accompany the Prime Minister on an important trip, little does he know that he will meet his old lover Marina again across the table during negotiations, nor that he'll be the go-between for information about a Russian threat to the transatlantic cables that link North America and Europe from Marina. Will they get out alive? This was a really great read with many a twist and plenty of jeopardy. Loved it. Grave of Boris Pasternak in the cemetery at Peredelkino (c) Harriet Crawley BookTrail the locations in The Translator Marc writes (main picture): I specifically focused on the South Africa captain Siya Kolisi, far left, as he sung the national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, as he sings with so much passion and emotion.

The Translator | Spy Thriller Book - Harriet Crawley

As the political climate stands at this moment in time I think it’s fair to say that the Cold War never really ceased – it just evolved into a modernised version. A battleground that has also moved into the virtual sphere Where groundwork was laid for a more peaceful, less combative and more humane cohabitation between Russia and the West, certain warmongering leaders have destroyed that groundwork and created the basis for a possible third World War.Cupolas of St. Basil’s cathedral, Red Square (c) Harriet Crawley BookTrail the locations in The Translator Prescient and pacey, this book sizzles with the author’s expertise.’ Edward Lucas, author of The New Cold War: Putin’s Threat to Russia and the West A taut, highly topical thriller, set in Moscow and centred on a devastating Russian plot to sabotage the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK. But also, a passionate love story between two people determined to stop this cataclysmic act.

Harriet Crawley – The Translator Book Of The Month: Harriet Crawley – The Translator

W ritten by an insider: Harriet Crawley lived in Moscow for many years, working in the energy sector at a time of exploding wealth concentration and increasingly violent political repression. We were delighted here at You’re Booked to have the chance to interview Harriet Crawley, author of our April Book of the Month, The Translator. Moscow, September 2017. Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to the city to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is turned on its head when, after more than a decade, he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is now the interpreter to the Russian President. If you asked ChatGPT to write a story about on this using only old Telegraph articles & British state press releases, it would probably have come up with this book. Harriet Crawley’s The Translator, has been described by Antony Beever as ‘a classic thriller of the new Cold War’.

Written by an insider, Harriet Crawley lived in Moscow for many years, working in the energy sector at a time of exploding wealth concentration and increasingly violent political repression. The central character voted for her because he "is tired of men destroying the planet", he voted for her merely "because she was a woman".

Harriet Crawley - Crime and Fiction Author - Bitter Lemon Press Harriet Crawley - Crime and Fiction Author - Bitter Lemon Press

I started learning Russian at the age of 45, and I am still learning, and it is my fifth language, so the idea to make two interpreters my main characters was irresistible. Interpreters keep to the shadows; they are seldom noticed, or remembered, and yet they see and hear everything. I got the central storyline – a Russian plot to sabotage the internet cables which link the UK to the US – from a report written for the Policy Exchange think tank in 2017, called: Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure. The author was a little-known MP called Rishi Sunak! Fast-paced political-cum-spy thriller with a chilling ring of authenticity and an eerie closeness to present events in Ukraine. Unputdownable.' Xan Smiley, The Economist UK: Rishi Sunak hosts talks with Kamala Harris, vice-president of the US, at No 10, followed by a private dinner; Harris also delivers a policy speech on the future of AI at the US embassy in London; Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, speaks at the annual conference of the King’s Fund, a health think tank; start of Movember, the moustache-growing charity event held during November each year to raise funds and awareness for men’s health. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

Everything the British state has accused Russia of in the last Decade makes its way into this book word for word before one has even got through a quarter of the story, including its inaccuracies & fabrications. The idea of making two interpreters the key protagonists came right at the very start, no doubt because I had spent hours grappling with impossible Russian grammar, and was addicted to the language, even though my Russian was far from perfect. Our hero would be the translator (he hates the word ‘interpreter’) assigned to the British Prime Minister, while our heroine would act as interpreter for the Russian President.