7 politically charged novels set in Eastern Europe

Political tensions run high in these 7 electrifying novels.

Set in Eastern Europe during some of history’s most tumultuous times, these stories showcase the endurance of the human spirit, the cost of freedom, and what it takes to survive.

Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin

As the daughter of one of Turkey’s last Ottoman pashas, Selva could win the heart of any man in Ankara. Yet the spirited young beauty only has eyes for Rafael Alfandari, the handsome Jewish son of an esteemed court physician. In defiance of their families, they marry, fleeing to Paris to build a new life. But when the Nazis invade France and begin rounding up Jews, the exiled lovers will learn that nothing ― not war, not politics, not even religion ― can break the bonds of family. For after they learn that Selva is but one of their fellow citizens trapped in France, a handful of brave Turkish diplomats hatch a plan to spirit them and hundreds of innocents to safety. Together, they must traverse a war-torn continent, crossing enemy lines and risking everything in a desperate bid for freedom.

The Bucharest Legacy by William Maz

The CIA is rocked to its core when a KGB defector divulges that there is a KGB mole inside the Agency. CIA analyst Bill Hefflin becomes their prime suspect when it’s revealed the mole’s handler is a KGB agent called Boris — Hefflin’s longtime KGB asset. Hefflin is given a chance to prove his innocence by returning to his city of birth, Bucharest, Romania, to find Boris and track down the identity of the mole. It’s been three years since the bloody revolution, and what he finds is a cauldron of spies, crooked politicians, and a country controlled by the underground and the new oligarchs, all of whom want to find Boris. But Hefflin has a secret that no one else knows — Boris...