A Stranger in Corfu
Greece United Kingdom

A Stranger in Corfu

by Alex Preston

Summary

On the Greek island of Vidos, just off the coast of Corfu, a secluded community of former MI6 officers lives in enforced retirement. These men and women have been exiled from the intelligence service—some too damaged by their past, others too compromised to be trusted. Surrounded by the beauty of the Ionian Sea, they attempt to settle old grudges, rekindle lost relationships, and forget the dangerous lives they once led.

But their fragile peace collapses when one of the residents is found dead. As suspicion spreads through the community, former allies begin questioning one another, and buried secrets from decades of espionage threaten to surface. The island becomes a trap for people who have spent their lives deceiving others, where old betrayals carry deadly consequences and nobody’s version of the past can be trusted.

Inspired by the hidden history of British intelligence, A Stranger in Corfu combines an atmospheric Mediterranean setting with the moral ambiguity of Cold War espionage. Alex Preston explores loyalty, betrayal, and the difficulty of escaping one’s past, asking what remains of people whose entire lives have been built around secrets.

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Alex Preston
Alex Preston

Alex Preston is a British novelist, journalist, and literary critic. He writes for publications including The New York Times, The Economist, and Harper’s Bazaar, and reviews books for The Observer, the Financial Times, and The Spectator. He is also a co-founder of the Corfu Literary Festival and a patron of the Oxford Literary Festival. Preston is the author of several novels, including This Bleeding City, The Revelations, In Love and War, and Winchelsea, as well as the nature-writing book As Kingfishers Catch Fire. His fiction often explores ambition, moral compromise, and the ways personal lives intersect with larger historical forces. Published in February 2026, A Stranger in Corfu draws on the history of British intelligence to create a fictional story of exiled spies, old loyalties, and secrets that refuse to remain buried.

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Published
2026
Author
Alex Preston