The Secrets We Kept: A novel

by Lara Prescott

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
A HELLO SUNSHINE x REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK

A thrilling tale of secretaries turned spies, of love and duty, and of sacrifice--inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago.

At the height of the Cold War, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime. Their mission: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where no one dare publish it, and help Pasternak's magnum opus make its way into print around the world. Glamorous and sophisticated Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit all over the world--using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Irina is a complete novice, and under Sally's tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents.

The Secrets We Kept combines a legendary literary love story--the decades-long affair between Pasternak and his mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, who was sent to the Gulag and inspired Zhivago's heroine, Lara--with a narrative about two women empowered to lead lives of extraordinary intrigue and risk. From Pasternak's country estate outside Moscow to the brutalities of the Gulag, from Washington, D.C. to Paris and Milan, The Secrets We Kept captures a watershed moment in the history of literature--told with soaring emotional intensity and captivating historical detail. And at the center of this unforgettable debut is the powerful belief that a piece of art can change the world.

• ISBN10: 0525656154
• ISBN13: 9780525656159
• Publish Date: 3 September 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Alfred A. Knopf
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525656159

Reviews

[brokentune]

DNF @ 20%.

I am not impressed.

The women characters are pretty vapid apart from Olga, Pasternak's muse. However, even she is so far only defined by her relationship with Pasternak.

I don't know why, but I'm really noticing how this book would fail the Bechdel test in every scene so far.

Also, I'm not interested in the writing style. It's aggravatingly a lot like chick-lit and I also have issues with other aspects of the tone.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I enjoyed this novel. It focuses more on people and relationships and not so much on the smuggling of Doctor Zhivago out of Russia.

There is a total unique POV type that I had not encountered before.

[Lynn]

The mention of Dr Zhivago was all I needed to persuade me to read The Secrets We Kept even though, like many of the characters within the narrative, I've never read Boris Pasternak's masterpiece, although, I do admit to borrowing a copy from the library back in the 1980s which I returned unread. Therefore I'm happy to say I've devoured this fascinating historical novel from cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ms Prescott's début novel covers the intriguing history surrounding the circumstances of how Dr Zhivago was first published in Italy. Also, the covert work done by the CIA during the height of the Cold War to obtain a copy of the untranslated Russian manuscript. The aim to make copies available to Soviet citizens at a time when the unpublished work's deemed as Anti-Soviet by The Kremlin. She also reminds us about a time in history when sexism reigned and intolerance lead to punishment.

Told from mostly female points of view, the narrative unfolds in both the United States and the Soviet Union between 1949 and 1958. It includes the poignant and heartbreaking relationship strife experienced by Olga, Boris Pasternak's mistress as well as Irina Drozdova's time spent working in the Agency typing pool and her part of securing a copy of Pasternak's Russian manuscript after she and Sally are recruited into the world of espionage. Their parts in bringing Dr Zhivago to the world's literary stage is laced with equally captivating inclusions of facts and social trends of the time including references to music, fashion and food. Yet, it's the drawing attention to the use of propaganda which sends a powerful message of equal importance as much today as it did half a century ago.

Within the last two years, my favourite books have mostly been historical novels and this one is a more than worthy addition to my list. With a reminder of Yuri and Lara's love story in my mind, The Secrets We Kept comes highly recommended.

***book bought and paid for by myself**