 The plot is set in early @-@ 1970s England . Serena Frome ( " rhymes with plume " ) , the daughter of an Anglican bishop , shows a talent for mathematics and is admitted to the University of Cambridge . But she struggles academically , and graduates with a third . While at Cambridge she becomes romantically involved with Tony Canning , a professor , who before abruptly ending the affair secures a position for Serena with MI5 . The job is low @-@ level , but a more exciting opportunity appears when Serena is offered a chance to take part in a new covert program codenamed " Sweet Tooth " . To counter Communist propaganda during the Cold War , the agency wants to offer financial assistance to young writers , academics and journalists with an anti @-@ Communist bent . Serena , who is an avid and quick reader of fiction , is given the task of vetting burgeoning writer Thomas Haley . 
