A Stranger in Corfu

A Novel

Alex Preston

A stylish, suspense-filled novel of espionage, shadowy morality, and unraveling secrets set on the sun-drenched Greek island of Vidos.

On the Greek island of Vidos the past lingers like salt in the air. The inhabitants—former members of MI6—are sent here to be forgotten, exiled: either too damaged or too compromised to be allowed to live freely.

For years, residents make the best of their fate—old enemies reconcile, long-lost friends swim together in the warm sea, and estranged lovers share a bed once more. But secrets bind tightly. And when one of their own washes up dead, alliances fracture and a tide of suspicion begins to rise.

A vivid reimagining of a real, hidden slice of the British Intelligence Service's history, A Stranger in Corfu is an exquisitely tense, masterfully spun novel of unravelling secrets and the futility of trying to outrun the past.

Alex Preston is an award-winning author of five novels published in Britain, including This Bleeding City, The Revelations, In Love and War, and Winchelsea, as well as the nonfiction book As Kingfishers Catch Fire. He writes regularly for The New York Times, The Economist, and Harper's Bazaar. He reviews books for The Observer's New Review, Financial Times, and The Spectator. Alex is co-founder of the Corfu Literary Festival and Patron of Oxford Literary Festival. He lives in England.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Early praise for A Stranger in Corfu:

"A beautiful, devastating, and multi-layered tour de force which brings Greece vividly to life.” Charles Cumming, author of The Moroccan Girl and Box 88

"John le Carré meets The Durrells. A Stranger is Corfu is a brilliantly atmospheric thriller. Suspenseful, vivid, and impossible to put down.” Tom Holland, author of Pax, Dominon, and Millenium

"Imagine the Slow Horses had parents who were also spies. Imagine those parents were on a small island, just off Corfu. Imagine that their chequered pasts might be catching up with them. And then realise you don't need to imagine it because Alex Preston has done it for you with this beautifully taut, clever, classy thriller.” Natalie Haynes, author of A Thousand Ships and No Friend to This House

"Taut, tense and utterly gripping: Preston evokes a wonderfully thrilling story from the dreamy Ioanian. Nothing short of brilliant.” Adam Rutherford, author of The Book of Humans

"A beautiful, taut novel laced with the thrills of lives half-lived and never escaped; of friendship, love and relentless betrayal beneath Corfu's blazing sun and the restless, dark sea—where secrets threaten to drown them all. A story that haunts long after the last page.” Evie Wyld, author of The Echoes

"A stylish literary spy novel in which Agatha Christie meets the Cambridge Five, set on a sun-soaked island off Corfu. Sophisticated and stylishly self-aware, it weaves political intrigue with lyrical prose in an artful reimagining of the classic spy story.” Sarah Churchwell, author of The Wrath to Come

"A gripping thriller that explores the lives shaped—and shattered—by Cold War politics in Europe's southern fringe. Preston captures the fractured legacy of British intelligence and the ghosts it leaves behind with haunting precision. I was captivated from start to finish.” Peter Frankopan, author of The Earth Transformed and The New Silk Road

"Gripping, dark and clever: spies with troubled backstories; a small island off Corfu; Albania just across the water. It will be huge.” Sofka Zinocieff, author of The House on Paradise Street

"I read it in one breathless sitting. A Stranger in Corfu is vivid and compulsive, elegant and clever. I loved it.” Francesca Segal, author of Island Calling

"Alex Preston's tale of Cold War spies marooned in Corfu presents an achingly poignant portrait of intersecting lives set against a decades-long canvas spanning seminal moments in Britain's spy story. Preston never loses sight of the fact that at the heart of his tale are characters whose luminosity lingers long after the final page is turned. A beautifully written examination of what it means to put your life—and soul—on the line for a cause. A spy novel of the highest caliber.” Vaseem Khan, author of City of Destruction