3.5 stars

TW: Sexual assault and some homophobia

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the late 1950s, the CIA published Russian copies of Doctor Zhivago and smuggled them behind the Iron Curtain in order to spark an unrest among Soviet citizens. In The Secrets We Kept, Lara Prescott explores the women who may have helped the mission, as well as the intriguing relationship between Russian author Boris Pasternak and his mistress Olga, who is known to have inspired the Doctor Zhivago character Lara.

I really enjoyed this book, and learning some really amazing things about the revolutionary Doctor Zhivago which I never knew before. I definitely have to put my hands up and admit that, at the time of writing, I have yet to read Doctor Zhivago but I have very much enjoyed the BBC mini series of it with Keira Knightley, which I'm pretty sure we got free DVDs of in the Sunday paper!

The complexities of all the female characters in this really drew me in, and the amount of character growth we see (particularly with Irina). I loved the chapters from the 'typists' in the CIA, and how this book also focused on women who had done some amazing things during the war and then been relegated to secretarial and homemaking duties once the men came home, and how hard this was for a majority of them.

I will say that I feel like I did want something more from this book. I think I expected to be wowed and I didn't quite get that wow moment - and I really felt like the reader would eventually get more from Irina and Sally's relationship, and it definitely felt more like it just meandered away a bit sad and disappointing.

Besides that, the history behind this book really just fascinated me, and I think Lara Prescott did a great way in bringing it to life using some fictional characters.