Book

The secrets we kept

Summary:

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, but under Sally's tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents. Their story is intertwined with that of 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.

Record details

ISBN: 9780525656159
ISBN: 0525656154
ISBN: 9781524711658
ISBN: 1524711659
Physical Description: xi, 349 pages ; 25 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019.

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

Prologue : The typists -- East: 1949-1950 : The muse -- West: Fall 1956 : The applicant -- The typists -- The swallow -- East: 1950-1955 : The rehabilitated woman -- The cloud dweller -- The emissary -- West: February-Fall 1957 : The carrier -- The typists -- East: 1955-1956 : The agent -- The emissary -- West: Fall 1957-August 1958 : The carrier -- The swallow -- The company man -- The swallow -- The carrier -- The typists -- The carrier -- East: May 1958 : The mother -- West: August-September 1958 : The typists -- The nun -- East: September-October 1958 : The prizewinner -- West: October-December 1958 : The informant -- East: October-December 1958 : The emissary -- West: December 1958 : The defector -- East: January 1959 : The postmistress -- West: Summer 1959 : The student -- East : 1960-1961 : The almost widow -- Epilogue : The typists.