As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot (there are reviews like that out there already if that's what you are looking for).

This is a book based on real events - so a blend of reality and fiction, which makes for an interesting read. I had no idea of the purported affair before reading this novel - nor indeed any of the real events behind the "Red Menace" plot, so it was a very interesting read.

The pace was - to me - a little slow to begin with, in the style of the traditional political/spy thriller genre - but soon picked up.

There were some interesting fictional (I assume) characters - such as Frenchie - and (from what I've read elsewhere) extremely good representations of Ramsay Macdonal and Sir Oswald Mosely et al.

An enjoyable read if you are interested in history and like political thrillers. I will happily read more by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

A compelling story of power, passion and intrigue based on real events, The Prime Minister's Affair is a terrific read. Recommend you read this book!

This is an interesting historical fiction that mixes facts and fiction. There's a thriller side but it's the depiction of an age when fascism was seen as the barrier to stop bolshevism.
A violent age and this book talks about what happened, how the secret services used violence and fascist.
it's well written and interesting even if a bit disturbing at times.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Andrew William's historical blend of fact and fiction focuses on the issue of the British intelligence services through time, refusing to distinguish between socialism and communism, working against the Labour Party to ensure it loses general elections, such as with the publication of the forged Zinoviev letter in 1924, published by the Daily Mail, and to undermine the party when it is in government. The story is set in the midst of the global crisis of 1929, the Labour Party's Ramsey MacDonald is Prime Minister, a widowed man unable to address the starvation, poverty and high unemployment blighting the nation, now its all about the 'politics of the possible'. His problems grow when a Austrian lover he had taken to assuage his loneliness but had discarded upon becoming PM, Kristina Forster, turns up at Downing Street claiming to have lost everything and demanding he give her £6000 .

Whilst he refuses to pay and has her thrown out, he is concerned about the love letters he had written that are in her possession, they could destroy the Labour Party, his position as PM, and his reputation. MacDonald is aware of the powerful enemies ready to do anything to ensure the demise of the Labour government, from the secret services packed with Conservatives and Fascists, the landed gentry, big business and the press barons, all lined up against him. He needs to get those letters back from Forster, now living and working in Paris and he turns to a ambitous Labour man in the security services, retired Lieutenant Commander Reginald Fletcher, desperate for a safe seat, to negotiate and retrieve the letters from the Austrian Vamp. Accompanying Fletcher is the ex-military intelligence and old soldier, Richard 'Frenchie' Stewart, ashamed of having to take Judas money from the intelligence service for assignments working against the poor and the working class wanting greater equality by challenging the existing power structures. Will the unlikely Frenchie turn out to be MacDonald's saviour?

Williams's research into this period of political history is impeccable, he paints the unedifying murky picture of the ruthless 'undemocratic' measures and machinations undertaken by the intelligence services, getting protestors imprisoned, break-ins, stealing Labour Party papers, allying themselves with fascists and utilising the blackshirts with their reputation for brutal violence. MacDonald is an interesting figure, so many had put their trust and faith in him as a man of principle and integrity, but can he live up to his public rhetoric? Politics can be the dirtiest of games where today's enemies can become tomorrow's 'friends'. The author vibrantly brings alive a turbulent period of British political history and culture and the establishment's all too real antipathy towards the Labour party, and a scandal that threatened to bring down a PM and his government. This will appeal to fans of historical fiction, particularly those with an interest in politics and the intelligence agencies. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.