Dinner with the Dissidents

It is 1970, and cracks are appearing in the Soviet Union as it struggles to quell dissident voices. Censored at home, the Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn is lauded in the West for exposing the underbelly of communism, and is rumoured to be writing his most damaging work yet. The Kremlin is worried; Solzhenitsyn must be stopped.

The KGB turns to Leonid Krasnov, an aspiring young writer. They promise to make him Moscow’s next literary star if he will infiltrate Solzhenitsyn’s inner circle and report back on what the great author is hiding. At first Leonid complies, but when he falls in love with Klara, a brilliant dissident cellist, his allegiances waver. By then he is already enmeshed in a plot more sinister than he could ever have imagined. Many years later, Leonid is living a reclusive life in Canberra under an assumed name. Haunted by his past, he seeks one last, desperate chance to make amends.

Dinner with the Dissidents is a gripping portrayal of tumultuous times, and a thrilling story of love, courage and deception.

About the Author

John Tesarsch is the author of the acclaimed novels The Philanthropist and The Last Will and Testament of Henry Hoffman. He latest novel, Dinner with the Dissidents, will be published in September 2018. He has degrees in music and law, and pursued a career as a cellist in Vienna before he turned to writing. After travelling widely he returned to Australia, where he lives with his wife and two children. He is also a barrister, and lectures in law at the University of Melbourne.