All the while, Romania rushes toward revolution. Glimpses of the world outside Romania stir feelings of confusion and curiosity and leave Cristian reeling as he tries to make sense of the contradictory truths he is uncovering about his country.

Under threat of blackmail, Cristian agrees to become an informant and to report on the American diplomat whose apartment his mother cleans.Īs Cristian begins his double life, he starts to doubt everyone around him, even his closest friends and family. Called to the principal’s office one day, Cristian is greeted by an imposing member of the Secu. Gray, lifeless buildings line the streets, and food scarcity, unreliable electricity and constant paranoia are part of daily life under Ceaușescu’s regime.Ĭristian is a high school student who dreams of becoming a writer, but the Securitate, Ceaușescu’s secret police, have other plans for him. But Cristian Florescu, who lives with his parents, sister and grandfather in Romania’s capital city, Bucharest, knows the truth. The oppressive political system within Romania effects not.Romania 1989: Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania’s longtime leader, has told the world that Romania is a land of bounty, and the world believes him. Growing up under the communist regime limits Cristian’s ability to experiment with his identity, building independence, and practice autonomy, standard rites of passage when coming-of-age. Conversely, the narrator is timid and afraid to express his emotions or thoughts in public. He his arms, casually looking about, speaking louder than most Romanians would” (105).

As they walk through Rosetti Square together, Cristian notes Dan’s “general ease in all things. While Dan and Cristian are both on the cusp of turning eighteen, the teenagers interact with others and themselves in divergent manners.

Toward the outset of the narrative, the author illustrates the dichotomy between Cristian and Dan Van Dorn’s social interactions to highlight the effects of political culture on coming-of-age. Throughout her novel, I Must Betray You, Sepetys thematically examines coming-of-age through her character Cristian.

I must betray