Lara Prescott

________________________ ‘Tantalising’ Sunday Times ‘Thoroughly enjoyable’ Guardian ‘Irresistibly charged’ Mail on Sunday ________________________ No one looks twice at the women in the typing pool. No one knows that two of them are trading secrets. The secret is a book, the size of the one in your hands, and within its pages, a love story that could change the world. But where there is love there is pain. And where there is deception, formidable danger... ________________________ ‘Mixing Mad Men and John le Carré ... addictive’ i paper ‘Utterly compelling... I absolutely loved it’ Sarah Winman

The sensational Cold War spy thriller

The Secrets We Kept

Not much for plot but a beautiful character study. Follow a handful of women as they experiencethe cold war as says, diplomats, wives, mothers, lovers, criminals...  Based on the true story of a book that had the power to destroy the soviet union.

Amber

Cindy Lieberman

3.5 An interesting couple of stories that barely intersect to make a novel. One is about Boris Pasternak, his lover, and his masterwork, Doctor Zhivago. The other is about a group of women who work in the typing pool at “the agency.” It was tough on dissident writers and their loved ones in Russia during the Stalin era, and it was (and likely continues to be) tough on females in the male-dominated spy world. But they managed to get the job done.

Julia

DNF @ 40%. I’m in the minority but just could not get into the story. Started out promising but lacked character depth for me. West chapters were very hard to follow.

Caitlin Snyder

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

Me gusto pero no me encanto. El ritmo del arranque me costo un monton, aunque despues adquiere mucho mas dinamica y mejora. Tiene algunas cositas un poco sorprendentes, pero la verdad es que las historias de amor a la manera tradicional no son tan atractivas para mi, algunas cositas incluso me molestan un poco. Se que esta basado en personas reales, y me informe sobre cual fue la historia, pero aun asi, lejos de fascinarme.

Elise Eanes

It was interesting, but also it wasn't my usual style. The ending also was not super satisfying? 

Jan Talkington

Some books just flow - this is one. A easy to read, interesting story. I knew that Doctor Zhivago had been banned in the Soviet Union, but I had no knowledge of the backstory to it all. A good historical fiction that will keep you engaged til the end.

taylor miles hopkins

Sophie Richard

Amelia C 

Holly Dewberry

Sophie Gatchell

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.

The Secrets We Kept The sensational Cold War spy thriller

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