Reviewer Cathy Tile will join us on Zoom to discuss The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott.

In 1957, Boris Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago, an epic love story set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, was published in Italy. The book, which chronicled a forbidden romance between a physician and his mistress, was banned in the Soviet Union for its anti-communist messages. But in an effort to undermine the revolution, American CIA agents worked to ensure the novel was brought back to its homeland.

Lara Prescott’s debut, The Secrets We Kept, reimagines Doctor Zhivago’s dangerous journey to publication, placing women serving as CIA secretaries ( and sometimes spies) at the centre of the story. We will revisit the Cold War era, espionage and the famous novelist who suffered at the hand of USSR.

Sponsored in memory of Judi Kauffman.