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Most of the novel is set in 1993 when Laura Lazarescu, a young London lawyer of Yanussian descent, travels to Yanussia as part of the legal team called in to defend Marija Popa, wife of the former dictator, Constantin Popa. Marija is charged with money laundering, bribery, fraud and corruption. The story is book-ended by events in 2018, when Marija dies and Laura reflects on earlier events. The story is told in the first person by Laura. Institute of Organic Chemistry (Romanian Academy) in Bucharest built in the 1970s. Source: socialistmodernism.com
I loved the idea behind the book, however, I didn’t love its execution. I found the two main characters (especially Marija) very detached from everything and everyone. Marija exploited Laura’s weaknesses to her own advantage. Laura, on the other hand, was gullible and I found her actions very irksome, particularly when concerning her mother. When the Ceausescus set out for a state visit to the United States in 1978, Elena was offered an honorary membership at the Illinois Academy of Sciences (IAS). However, nothing less than recognition from a Washington-based institute would satisfy her. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former chief of Romania's foreign intelligence service and author of the book Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescus' Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption, Elena was livid:
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The book doesn’t reach any great heights as a mystery or thriller but as a personal fictional and historical tale, there is some brilliance here.
Laura travels to Yanussia accompanied by two senior associates, Cristian Pavel and Jude Greenwood. It soon transpires that it wasn’t a coincidence that Laura was sent there. It seems that Marija personally requested Laura’s presence. I felt in thrall to Marija reading this, she is addictive. It’s an intoxicating read and deliciously good. Berry keeps you just off kilter enough to make you feel like you are the one being watched, it is outstanding! I think because I knew that this has happened in some form in the real world made it all the more compelling. Laura is enticed into the spiders web of Marija; the little mother, groomed since childhood to believe in her power. I could feel the pressure that Laura felt, the risks she takes, giving me a dry mouth, my heart thumping as I read, it was so well done. The mesmerised narrator wonders aloud about the impact of these women, raising issues not too detached from ones we might ask about our own, real-life dictators’ wives. Why does the media fawn over their closets and philanthropic habits? And does the fixation on the glamour help disguise the darkness of their husbands’ deeds?
Through her work as a financial and political journalist, Freya Berry was inspired by watching the wives of dictators and strongmen – particularly Melania Trump during the US election in 2016. These women often carry with them an air of detachment, an aloofness that can come across as cold and indifferent, sometimes even calculating. Marija, the dictator’s wife of the title, certainly seems to be all of these things, though she’s so much more – as Laura soon discovers. Marija has a magnetic allure that Laura can’t resist, even though she knows she’s being lured into the spider’s trap. There’s a power play going on between these two women and whilst for much of the novel it feels as if Marija is the one in control, Laura has an innate tenacity that makes her willing to do whatever it takes to dig out the truth – even if it hurts her irrevocably in the process. The petitions were turned down and Elena had to settle for an honorary degree from the Central London Polytechnic and an honorary fellowship from the Royal Institute of Chemistry. According to Behr, the chancellor of London University, Professor Sir Philip Norman, publicly praised Elena's work, despite the fact that she never wrote a single word of any of her publications. Now 30 and based in London, Berry worked as a financial and political journalist at Reuters before becoming an author. She reported on the US presidential election in 2016 after joining the Mail Online, where her observations of the rise of Donald Trump with Melania Trump at his side planted the seed of the novel.
Elena's PhD in chemistry was based on a thesis defense that never occurred. Indeed, there was nothing to present. This is very different from most books around at the moment, which makes it a refreshing read. I would thoroughly recommend this book, it will make you really think about the structures of power and how it can, and is, abused. A captivating story of women's power, love and secrets. As timely and profound as it is unforgettable. The ending left me breathless' LARA PRESCOTT, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept First ladies’ fashion choices are scrutinised in ways that would be unthinkable for their besuited husbands beyond their choice of tie colour. Conversely, not much ink has been spilled on the wardrobe choices of Doug Emhoff, second gentleman and spouse of Vice-President Kamala Harris.Nevertheless, on December 8, 1967, she obtained a PhD in chemistry after defending her thesis on the "Stereospecific Polymerization of Isoprene on the Stabilization of Synthetic Rubbers on Copolymerization." Romanian law decreed that doctoral candidates had to publicly defend their theses. To avoid the public defense of a thesis that she likely did not write, the law was changed so that she only needed to submit a written defense. That said, there are plentiful ingredients in the tale, with questions arising about whether information leaks are happening and whether someone is working against them. Pavel, perhaps, as he was seen making a clandestine visit to the prosecutor's office, even though he may have been one of Marija's former lovers, or Radutu, the team's barrister, who may still be associated with the good old days. Maybe even Ecaterina, Marija's sister, possibly still holding an old family grudge. And then there’s an American investment banker in the picture, a possible dark history involving the mansion they are staying in and questions regarding the relevance of the country's famous sweet manufacturing facility formerly run by Marija's sister.
The Dictator’s Wife is published by Headline Review, and is available on Book Depository from 17 February. She cites the recent news of Melania Trump launching a non-fungible token (NFT) – a watercolour depicting her eyes. “She called it ‘an amulet to inspire’ and I thought that was actually a perfect representation of Melania’s time in power because it’s a thing, but it’s not a thing. It’s not something you can touch. It’s a representation, an empty emblem, a hollow image, and that felt like a microcosm of her time as first lady,” explains Berry. A gripping, intelligent, utterly-of-the-moment thriller’EMMA STONEX, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamplighters Now I was here, on behalf of the woman whose husband had controlled it all. How much had she known? How tainted was she, and therefore how tainted was I by association?” Almost thriller-like, a mystery, 20th century dystopia, with dark humour (a Communist version of Monopoly raises a wry smile) and it has a lot to say for itself.Freya Berry always loved stories, but it took several years as a journalist to realise she loves the kind of truth that lies in fiction, not reality. (Or, to put it another way, making stuff up is more fun.)
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