Heads You Win

In Leningrad in 1968, Alexander Karpenko’s father is murdered after challenging the Soviet authorities. Alexander and his mother must flee, but two cargo ships offer different routes of escape. A coin toss determines whether they travel to Britain or the United States, and the novel follows both possible outcomes: Alex grows up in London, while Sasha begins again in New York.

Over the next thirty years, the two versions of the same man pursue success through business, politics and personal relationships while remaining shaped by exile and the Soviet system they escaped. Their paths reflect different forms of opportunity and compromise in the Western democracies. The parallel narratives move towards post-Communist Russia, where questions of identity, memory and political power bring the divided possibilities of Alexander’s life together.