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PRECIPICE by Robert Harris

For Armistice Day - 110 years after the outbreak of the First World War - a story of intrigue and secrets in the corridors of power.

In the summer of 1914, the young aristocrat and socialite Venetia Stanley is having an affair with a married, much older man.

That man is the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith.

As well as meeting regularly at social events they see each other privately on Friday afternoon drives in the Prime Minister’s limousine. In between times, Asquith writes to Venetia obsessively, but when he starts sharing sensitive matters of state and top secret documents, the letters are no longer merely evidence of an illicit relationship but a matter of national security …

Episode 1
Along with other members of her social set - known as ‘the Coterie’ - Venetia is invited to a boat party on the London Thames.

Author Robert Harris, the master of plotting, is best known for his best-selling fiction, including Fatherland, Enigma, The Ghost Writer, Archangel and An Officer And A Spy. Precipice is his sixteenth novel.

Writer: Robert Harris
Reader: John Heffernan
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4