The year is 1972. The Cold War is far from over. Britain is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism. Serena Frome, in her final year at Cambridge, is being groomed for MI5.
Serena is sent on a secret mission - Operation Sweet Tooth - which brings her into the world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage - trust no one.
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[My name is Serna Frome (rhymes with plume) and almost forty years ago I was sent on a secret mission for the British Security service]***
(Vintage, 9 May 2013, first published 23 August 2012, 374 pages, paperback, #popsugarreadingchallenge 2019, a book with a title that contains 'salty' 'sweet' 'bitter' or 'spicy', bought from @TheBHF)
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I tend to dislike Spy thrillers and if I'd known Sweet Tooth was one I may not have picked it up in a charity shop all those years ago. And would have missed out on a treat as a result. This is very different than other Spy novels I've read and not enjoyed for the most part. I adored it. Serena is a great character, not the traditional person you imagine would be recruited by MI5. I've read a fair amount of McEwan's book and have a good impression of his work. This is one of his best.
