Whoa, this is one unputdownable page turner of a novel. The plot just pulls you in, the characters keep you there, and the setting is so flawlessly described you can practically smell the cigarette smoke and hear the clacking typewriters.

I had no clue there was such a history regarding literature and the CIA. I’m blown away by the attention to detail woven into this historical novel. Just, wow. This is one of those novels I’m going to be thinking about long after I closed to cover.

This novel switches narratives between the typing pool at the Agency, a young Russian American looking for a job, an experienced female within the Agency world, the author of Doctor Zhivago and his mistress. This is one of those beautiful multi-narrator novels in which the reader is excited to go from viewpoint to viewpoint, to discover what is happening in each plot line.

The history is seamlessly woven in with the fictional plots to create a rich tapestry of a story. The characters are wholly and deeply developed, with their own voice and style that distinguishes each narrator.

The Secrets We Kept is an important novel and one that reminds us that history is deeper than we know; it’s one of those books that exposes you to new information in an intriguing and in enveloping way that makes you want to dig deeper into the subject matter.