The characters and the family saga told in Sins of a Spy are
purely fictional, but aspects of the story come straight from
historical accounts of the Cold War. I have drawn deeply on the
history of Soviet Jews, particularly of the Refusenik community
and their daily trials—the surveillance, the menial jobs, the
anti-Semitism, and the harassment by the KGB. I also found
inspiration in autobiographies and journalistic accounts of
American and Russian spies. I draw on details, large and small,...