Sam Golod

Sceptre, 1996

Sophia's fantastic first novel tells the story of a young Englishwoman who becomes involved with the artistic subculture of post-Communist St Petersburg.

The novel skilfully combines romance with a menacing and compelling crime story. But it is also an extraordinary description of the seedier elements of a society where the old order is passing and a dangerous and unpredictable new one is taking its place.

"Sophia Creswell has caught well both Russia's atmosphere of seedy violence and the mild hysteria of its artistic coteries."

The Observer

Red Tape

Sceptre, 1998

Red Tape is in some ways the mirror image of Sam Golod. Here, a romance between an English man and a Russian woman becomes caught up in the illegal immigrant underworld of London. When Alex follows Lydia to Russia, he begins to find out the true nature of her past.

The novel is simultaneously engaging and relentless, moving inexorably to its inevitable conclusion.

Sophia won the prestigious Southern Arts Literary Award for her work on Red Tape