It's 1972 and the Cold War is far from over. Britain is being ravaged by industrial unrest and terrorism, and Serena Frome, in her final year at Cambridge, is being prepared for life in the MI5. Sent on a secret mission - Operation Sweet Tooth - Serena encounters a promising young writer who she begins to find herself falling for. Can she maintain her cover? And more importantly who is playing who? 'Gloriously readable and, at times, wickedly funny' Arminta Wallace, "Irish Times"

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen books. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; and Nutshell, which was a Number One bestseller. Atonement and Enduring Love have both been turned into award-winning films, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach are in production and set for release this year, and filming is currently underway for a BBC TV adaptation of The Child in Time.