I Must Betray You

Set in Bucharest during Romania’s communist dictatorship in 1989, this historical novel follows seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu. A member of the Securitate confronts him at school over an illegal American dollar and pressures him to become an informer. Cristian agrees after the officer promises medicine for his grandfather, Bunu, who has leukemia. He is ordered to spy on the teenage son of an American diplomat, while knowing that surveillance and informers permeate daily life under the Ceaușescu regime. Rising tensions lead toward the Romanian revolution.