The Secrets We Kept

For the highly educated women working in the department the typing pool was the only opportunity they'd get to use their skills and intelligence but for the lucky few there was more. Irina was one of the lucky ones, groomed as a carrier she was included in a mission to send a novel behind the Iron Curtain. The novel was 'Doctor Zhivago' and it was banned in Russia due to seditious content. As Pasternak's lover and muse Olga had suffered for her love, sent to the Gulags for three years she still returned to Pasternak on her release even though she knew that 'Doctor Zhivago' could cause major problems.
This is the story of women on each side of the Iron Curtain in the late 1950s, all of them suppressed because of their sex but with the show more intelligence and independence to try to fight it. I loved this book because it told a powerful story of women in their many guises and the way that women work together to change the world. The only slight negative for me was the love story between Irina and Sally, it felt one step too far and muddying a clear narrative although it provide the plot incentive for Sally's subsequent actions, however that it to caste a small aspersion on a great book. It is period perfect with clever detailing both of life in Moscow and the dachas but also in Washington. Prescott writes clear and neat prose and the story skips along despite jumping from country to country. Pasternak himself is almost and aside and yet his writing is central to the entire story - this is sophisticated and mature plotting. show less

What a truly amazing book, one that works on so many levels. As historical fiction, it pulls from the files of the CIA and the experiences in Soviet "re-education" camps. As a book about women in the workforce, it nails the reality of being just as talented as men and offered menial roles. As a look at LGBTQ+ issues, it describes what life was like when being in the closet was a choice between existence and non-existence. And most of all, it describes the steps taken by so many to publish Boris Pasternak's literary masterpiece, "Dr. Zhivago."

The story takes place in two locales, clearly labeled: East and West, and during roughly the same time period of 1949 - 1961. In the East, Boris Pasternak is putting the finishing touches on his show more masterpiece, while Olga, his mistress, is visited by the KGB to inquire about her involvement in his work. This visit eventually leads to the Gulag; Boris is ruminating about his fellow writers and poets who have met a similar fate. The difference is that Stalin loves Boris Pasternak's poetry and his hand has protected Pasternak.

Meanwhile, after the Second World War ends, the women in the OSS who performed admirably are given jobs at the Agency. As typists. Despite their talents, despite their successes, they are asked to type memos and notes and letters, day after day. They form a camaraderie and one of them is Irina. Her mother left Soviet Russia without her husband, and at his death in the USSR she begins to ply her trade as a dressmaker to the community. Irina lives with her and most of the story from the West portions are told from her POV.

The 3 years Boris and Olga spend apart are described, and when the book is finally, finally completed the manner in which it was published would interest the most diehard John le Carré geek. What resulted was pure Soviet machinations to try to explain why the rest of the world read it before it was published in Russia.

In the West, Irina is befriended by Sally, and Irina is engaged to Ted who has a passion for all things Russian. Which is what attracts him to Irina. There are details about life as a working woman in Washington, D.C. in the 50's that are not too different from our own time. The details about life in the Agency as an LGBTQ+ person are horrendous and also, sadly, timely.

I found that this was a book I needed to savor, like a fine wine or heady beer. Pick up, enjoy, then put down. show less

(45) This is a book written from multiple POV's regarding Cold War spying and the use of propaganda - in this case publishing 'Doctor Zhivago' clandestinely outside of the Soviet Union and delivering it via US espionage activities to the citizens of the USSR. The story focuses on a pool of typists at the CIA ('Agency' is never named but this is the assumption) as well as the 'real life' Boris Pasternak and his mistress Olga who is sent to the gulag to be punished for helping with subversive activities. Several American female spies are also focused on - their roles as 'Swallows' sleeping with men to get them to give up their secrets as well as LGBT identity in the 1950's. So lots going on - which made for an interesting but ultimately show more disjointed and slightly disappointing read.

The individual POV stories were built up quite nicely. But the two of the three protagonists - Sally and Irina's stories to be specific - just died on the vine. Great build-up for dramatic tension and then - Huhn? that's it, really. The climax was unrecognizable. Too much time building and too little on the arc and denouement; so novel pacing and structure were off. The prose though was empirically pretty good. I thought Olga's story was well done. Pasternak was quite the jerk. (and frankly, I thought the novel Dr. Zhivago was bloated and overrated which may have colored my view) Her time in the Gulag, her interrogation, and her letters were the most authentic parts of the book. Plus, having been a student of the Russian language - I enjoyed the names, and the bits of Russian culture.

Anyway, above average but the construction was lacking which took what was really promising and interesting down to just above mediocre for me. I would give this author another read. A nice debut. show less

What a great historical novel. Who knew the CIA actually got some things right by using literature to combat Soviet expansion and smuggling the original Russian language version of Doctor Zhivago back into the USSR (which had refused to publish it)? I loved the look at the "girls" in the CIA typing pool, the exposure of the "lavender scare", the depiction of life for women in the "great" phase of the USA, and the characterization of everyone. This will go down as one of my favorites. Now I have to read Doctor Zhivago. I loved the movie, back in the day, but it's time to go to the source.

"The Secrets We Kept" is an absolutely exceptional literary journey that captivated me from the first pages. The story unfolds from multiple perspectives during the Cold War, immersing readers in the world of spies, revolutionaries, double agents, and their secretaries. Lara Prescott's true account of how the CIA orchestrated the smuggling of "Dr. Zhivago" back into Russia as a means of undermining the Communist regime from within is a captivating blend of love stories and espionage.
While some dialogue is fictitious, particularly in the Typists sections, where brave women returning from WWII were relegated to secretarial roles rather than the field where they rightfully belonged, now that men were back from the war, the characters and show more events are firmly rooted in reality.
Whether or not you've read "Dr. Zhivago" has no bearing on your ability to follow Prescott's masterful espionage novel.
This is a profoundly moving novel that I strongly recommend putting at the top of your reading list as your next enthralling literary adventure. show less

I knew I was meant to read this book when just a few pages in the author is talking about the women working at the CIA and she mentions Virginia Hall. It was just a few weeks ago that I read Hall’s biography, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win WWII. It was serendipity to see her referred to in this novel.

This book tells the story of the role played by the CIA in getting Boris Pasternak’s novel Dr. Zhivago, which had been smuggled out of Russia by an Italian publisher, translated into Russian and into the hands of the Russian people. The narrative moved back and forth between the female CIA agents (and typists) and Boris Pasternak and his lover in the Soviet Union. It was a bit hard to show more follow at first but eventually I could easily follow the threads and found the narrative very compelling. The sections about Pasternak’s lover, Olga, as she endured her time in the gulag were incredibly horrific. It’s incredible what she survived.

I believe this is a debut novel and so it does read like a first novel. She touches on homophobic behavior in the CIA in the 1950s when this story is set and also the misogyny in the agency which both reflect opinions in the country at that time. And she shows us once again that women make the best spies. I found this historical fiction to be quite gripping and well done and will be looking for whatever this author does next. show less

I was hoping there would be more in this book about the women in the CIA and their contributions and less about a romance. I enjoyed the spying that was done and can imagine how successful it might have been during the Cold War period. I learned about the CIA and their getting copies of Dr. Zhivago into the USSR, something I did not know. I was less comfortable with the romance between Sally and Irina. I learned a good bit about Boris Pasternak, from the book and through my own computer search.