Once a senior diplomat in Kiev, Simon Davey lost everything after a lurid scandal. Back in London, still struggling with the aftermath of his disgrace, he is traveling on the Tube when he sees her: Olesya, the woman Simon whom he holds responsible for his downfall. He first met her on an icy night during the protests on Independence Square, years ago. When Simon decides to follow Olesya, he finds himself plunged back into the dramatic days which changed his life forever, and in this novel by the author of the Man Booker Prize finalist Snowdrops, he begins to see that the past is very different from what he once believed.