The Secrets We Kept - Lara Prescott

The Secrets We Kept

By Lara Prescott

  • Release Date: 2019-09-03
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 1,178 Ratings

Description

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

At the height of the Cold War, Irina, a young Russian-American secretary, is plucked from the CIA typing pool and given the assignment of a lifetime. Her mission: to help smuggle Doctor Zhivago into the USSR, where it is banned, and enable Boris Pasternak’s magnum opus to make its way into print around the world. Mentoring Irina is the glamorous Sally Forrester: a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit, using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Under Sally’s tutelage, Irina learns how to invisibly ferry classified documents—and discovers deeply buried truths about herself.

The Secrets We Kept combines a legendary literary love story—the decades-long affair between Pasternak and his mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, who inspired Zhivago’s heroine, Lara—with a narrative about two women empowered to lead lives of extraordinary intrigue and risk. Told with soaring emotional intensity and captivating historical detail, this is an unforgettable debut: a celebration of the powerful belief that a work of art can change the world. 

Reviews

  • One of my all time favorites! Please option for a movie. The book reverberated through my core.

    5
    By J34Nn
    I could visualize every line of this book. What an incredible story. Please option for a movie, I have to see this on screen!
  • Just ok

    3
    By Michellew3975
    It was ok, I found it boring and slow in spots.
  • Dissapointing

    3
    By Barryf73
    This could have been soooo much better
  • Good read

    5
    By futuremrsvv
    Good read
  • Great read

    4
    By Eating good
    Thoroughly enjoyed this book - never realized there was a story of the story.
  • Captivating

    5
    By asapr212
    When I get to read something based on a time and place in history that I know little about, yet I feel at the end I know the people populating the story, to me that is the best intersection. Thank you Lara, and Lara.
  • Riveting Historical Fiction

    5
    By schmidthk
    This book kept me up way past my bedtime, I could not put in down. Set in the primarily in the ’60’s but so many of themes are relevant to today’s world.
  • Faded at end ....

    4
    By A-Train35
    But otherwise pretty good character development and unique story line, which is hard to come by in fiction these days ....