The secrets we kept

Title:

The secrets we kept

Author:

Prescott, Lara, author.

Personal Author:

Prescott, Lara, author.

ISBN:

9780525656159

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xi, 349 pages ; 25 cm

General Note:

"Reese's book club"--On cover.

Abstract:

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.

Personal Subject:

Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich, 1890-1960. Doktor Zhivago-Fiction.

Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich, 1890-1960-Fiction.

Corporate Subject:

United States. Central Intelligence Agency -- Officials and employees -- Fiction.

Subject Term:

Cold War -- Fiction.

Women spies -- Fiction.

Secretaries -- Fiction.

Smuggling -- Fiction.

Prohibited books -- Fiction.

Genre:

Thrillers (Fiction)

Biographical fiction.

Spy fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Ginter Park	Book	FICTION PRESCOT	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	FICTION PRESCOT	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West End	Book	FICTION PRESCOT	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Westover Hills	Book	FICTION PRESCOT	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

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.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Inspired by the true story of the role of Dr. Zhivago in the Cold War: a novel of espionage in the West, resistance in the East, and grand passions on both sides."We typed a hundred words a minute and never missed a syllable.Our fingers flew across the keys. Our clacking was constant. We'd pause only to answer the phone or to take a drag of a cigarette; some of us managed to master both without missing a beat." Prescott's debut features three individual heroines and one collective onethe typing pool at the Agency (the then relatively new CIA), which acts as a smart, snappy Greek chorus as the action of the novel progresses, also providing delightful description and commentary on D.C. life in the 1950s. The other three are Irina, a young Russian American who is hired despite her slow typing because other tasks are planned for her; Sally, an experienced spy who is charged with training Irina and ends up falling madly in love with her; and Olga, the real-life mistress of Boris Pasternak, whose devotion to the married author sent her twice to the gulag and dwarfed everything else in her life, including her two children. Well-researched and cleverly constructed, the novel shifts back and forth between the Soviet Union and Washington, beginning with Olga's first arrest in 1949"When the men in the black suits came, my daughter offered them tea"and moving through the smuggling of the Soviet-suppressed manuscript of Dr. Zhivago out of Russia all the way up to the release of the film version in 1965. Despite the passionate avowals and heroics, the love affair of Olga and Boris never quite catches fire. But the Western portions of the bookthe D.C. gossip, the details of spy training, and the lesbian affairreally sing.An intriguing and little-known chapter of literary history is brought to life with brio. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.