Reader's Choice Book Club--Frisco Public Library discussion

We're going virtual this month! Please share any thoughts and comments you have of The Secrets We Kept on this month's discussion board.

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott (Goodreads Author)
3.73 · Rating details · 24,267 ratings · 2,771 reviews

Secretaries turned spies, love and duty, and 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.

In case you didn't pick up a copy of the discussion questions at last month's meeting, I've posted below:

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

1. Compare the way men and women in the book go about their work of secret-keeping. How do gender roles determine who does what and who is acknowledged for their work in public?

2. For the main women in the book—Olga, Irina, and Sally—secret-keeping incurs different punishments and rewards. Who do you think suffers and sacrifices the most?

3. We read of Olga’s unsent letters to one of her interrogators in the Gulag, the prison where she’s sent for her association with Boris Pasternak. Were you surprised by her loyalty to him?

4. How do Sally and the other women in the book transform themselves to keep so many secrets? How are these guises reflected in the structure of the novel itself? Consider the changing points of view and the names of the chapters.

5. Have you read Doctor Zhivago? If so, what elements do you see recurring in The Secrets We Kept? And even if you haven’t read it, were you able to glean how the balance of political commentary and romance contributed to the stir it caused?

6. Did you agree with Boris’s decisions first to share the novel with the Italian publisher, and then decline the Nobel Prize? Why or why not?

7. Although Irina believed she failed her interview for the typist job, she explains that “they [had] seen something in me that I hadn’t seen myself . . .” Do you believe she uses this power for good? Was she grateful for the power she discovered?

8. Sally states that becoming someone else for her work is “the best part…[But] to become someone else, you have to want to lose yourself in the first place.” How does she embody this desire to erase a former identity, and who else in the book shares this feeling?

9. Describe Teddy’s attraction to Irina and to his job at the Agency. Did you get the impression that he really knew what he wanted out of his life? How are his passions for literature satisfied or disappointed by what unfolds during the course of the novel?

10. Discuss how the concept of ‘taboo’ influences the main love affairs in the book. Does any character find true satisfaction or happiness in traditional romantic arrangements (namely, heterosexual marriage), and how do these relationships contribute to the theme of secrecy?

11. Olga’s children, Ira and Mitya, are victims of their mother’s choices in love and politics. Would you have made the same choices she did about Boris?

12. Describe your experience of reading about the dissemination of Doctor Zhivago at the World’s Fair. If you were living in the time of the novel, do you think you would have sought it out knowing the implications of reading it?

(based on Penguin Random House)

I was especially intrigued by question #2 about how secret-keeping causes various outcomes for three main female characters! Olga comes to mind first of all for punishment, due to several occasions of extended imprisonment. I suppose her reward after the first stay in the Gulag is to spend more time with Boris when she's released. There are types of suffering and sacrifice beyond the physical, however. Irina and Sally both experience extreme isolation due to secrets, both in their work and in their private lives. They're able, for a while, to spend some happy times together. The reader isn't certain at the end of the story about Sally's eventual fate. What did you think about this question, or is there another one you'd like to discuss?

For next month, we're reading "Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield. The library has copies available, and last I knew, drive-thru and curbside pickup are available. Here are the discussion questions that go along with that book:

"Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield

1. What does Rob mean when he writes that marriage is about fear and failure?

2. How does music influence the ebb and flow of Rob’s life?

3. What prompts Rob to move?

4. Rob marks his life by the music he listens to. If you were to write a memoir tracking your life, how would you mark the time?

5. Describe Rob’s relationships with the important females in his life.

6. What’s the difference between a mix tape, a mix CD, and other digital means of compiling music?

7. Is there a special event from your past that you remember more clearly because of the music from during that time?

8. What if you could travel through time but your life was indexed only by songs? WHAT SONG(s) WOULD YOU PICK?

9. Will vinyl ever die?

10. Is the recording industry dead/dying?

11. Would you rather be with the awesome love of your life for 5 years and then they die or to never find them at all?

12. What did you like/not like about this book?

13. Will you try other books by this author?

(Questions based on Durham County Library)

We should've started a GroupMe in Jan. or February. Le poo.
Can we do a Zoom or Google Hangouts for next month?


Anyway, I read up to page 90 or so. Then I gave up and started to skim. So skimming the rest of the book took me like 30 minutes. & I still didn't care about what happened nor fully understand why things were happening. :/


I only knew what a Gulag was because of the most recent Muppets movie. & I actually thought they made up the word. oops. lol

I'll have to see if that's a possibility for our next meeting. Sorry you didn't enjoy this book. I always like books about authors, so was especially interested in the Boris Pasternak connection. I'm not that great with world history, myself, so this book kind of offered a peek into this time period in Russia, along with what it must have been like for the women in the US who were basically working as spies! NOTE: if you like music, I think you'll really appreciate our next book, "Love is a Mix Tape." Yes, it has an aspect of loss, but that really isn't the main focus, I don't think. With staying at home so much, I've already finished reading it:)

mmm. Yes. I intend on enjoying it. Music all the way. :D

Good!

OOh.. Just realized I'm gonna have to buy it. No physical copies with the library closed.. :( lol #struggle.. but feeding my book collection.. ok. :)
$5 on Kindle. yess