The Secrets We Kept: Reese's Book Club

A Novel

De: Lara Prescott

Narrado por: Carlotta Brentan, Cynthia Farrell, Mozhan Marnò, Saskia Maarleveld, Jonathan Davis, David Pittu, James Fouhey

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.

This audiobook features performances by Mozhan Marno as Olga, Carlotta Brentan as Irina, Cynthia Farrell as Sally, Saskia Maarleveld as The Typists, Jonathan Davis as Boris, David Pittu as Sergio, and James Fouhey as Teddy.

The greatest love story ever told

I listened to this on Audible and the only reason I chose it was because it was Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club pick. I am so glad it was chosen because it was a great story. Based on real life events of a CIA plot to infiltrate Soviet Russia. They pulled two women out of the typing pool who had “special skills” and used them to smuggle the book Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, which is said to be the greatest love story of the 20th Century. This book actually tells two stories at once, the writing of Doctor Zhivago and the dangers of writing such a story at the time. It also tells the story of the women from the CIA typing pool. If you get the chance you should definitely give this a listen, the cast of narrators are excellent, some with better Russian accents than others, but they add life to the words.

Not bad

Not a bad story but a little dull and boring. There was no real action or climax. I kept waiting for something to happen but it ended up being very basic the whole time

Fascinating Historical Fiction

I knew very little about the subject of Dr. Zhivago. I hope that what was written was basically true. I sort of felt that the relationship b/w Irina and Sally wasn't clearly defined in the end. Otherwise, I thought that it was an amazing first novel.

Fascinating!

I knew nothing of the CIA's involvement with Dr Zhivago. What a great and interesting read!..It has spurred me on to do more research and reading about this interesting time and topic.

Beautiful

I cried and laughed... this is the best book I’ve listen to in a long long while