Heart-stoppingly moving. This deeply personal story of the murder – martyrdom might be a better word – of one of the most consequential defectors in Russia's history is the definitive account of one of the major political crimes of modern times. Marina Litvinenko's beautifully written story has the power to appal and enrage, and arouses once again the demand for justice against all those who were guilty of her husband's death

JOHN SIMPSON

The writing, like Marina herself, shines with a luminous fearlessness. This is a ferociously beautiful account of one woman's fight for justice after the loss of her husband, her country and the old world order. Marina Litvinenko is a beacon and an inspiration in these dark times

LUCY PREBBLE

Powerful and moving - a story of personal bravery and determination which highlights the reality of Putin's Russia

GORDON CORERA

Beneath Sasha's bed-stricken photo and a series of others, Marina reveals a love story forged in the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union and a rejection of the modern-day Russia that followed. A gripping tale of defiance, principle, and hope

JAMES WATERHOUSE

Powerful and deeply personal, this is one woman's testimony of how Vladimir Putin's Russia destroyed the man she loved, and how slow many were to recognise the broader threat. The intimate, inside story of Alexander Litvinenko's poisoning is as shocking today as the first sight of the photograph on his deathbed 20 years ago

SARAH RAINSFORD