Ilium

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Fast-paced and powerful, this gripping and immersive novel unfolds in the shadowy realm of international espionage across London, Mallorca, Croatia, Paris, and Cap Ferret, narrated by a young female protagonist who unwittingly becomes a key asset in a long-awaited operation. The English narrator shares her troubled family life in London and her childhood fascination with a locked private garden near her mother’s workplace. Just before her 21st birthday, she meets the enigmatic Marcus, the garden's new owner, who is thirty-three years her senior. He quickly sweeps her off her feet, and they marry at his finca in Mallorca. During their honeymoon in Croatia, he reveals a plan where she can assist him with a "favor." Posing as an art adviser, she meets Raja in Paris, who sends her to a lunch at Cap Ferret with supposed friends, where her role is simply to "listen." A helicopter ride to a secluded, heavily guarded compound on Cap Ferret reveals a world of intrigue. There, she encounters the charming Edouard, his wife Dasha, and their children, among others, each with a scripted role. This compelling narrative weaves together a poignant tale of a meticulously planned CIA-Mossad operation that only needed the right asset to succeed.