The Secrets We Kept

The women arrive at work in October to find the Agency oddly quiet. They see Teddy rushing off to a meeting with Allan Dulles. Irina tells them that the alarm and urgency is because the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite. They gather in Anderson’s office to hear news reports on the radio, but he shoos them all back to work, except for Irina. After the weekend, Gail returns with a recording of the beeping from Sputnik. A month later, the Soviets launch Sputnik II, this time with a dog aboard. There is tension at the Agency for fear that the US is losing the space and nuclear races. However, the Agency also believes in “soft-propaganda warfare” (128) and sends books such as George Orwell’s Animal Farm behind the Iron Curtain either with weather balloons or by mailing them with false covers. When they learn of Doctor Zhivago, they feel it is the perfect weapon to give Soviet citizens to use against the Soviet State.

Sergio D’Angelo awakens with a hangover from a Radio Moscow party where he works translating bulletins into Italian. He is also in the USSR to find a new literary work for his employer, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, a member of the Italian Communist Party, who has recently established a new publishing company. When he sees a bulletin stating that the publication of Pasternak’s new novel is imminent, he visits the author at Peredelkino with his colleague Vladlen. Sergio proposes that Feltrinelli be allowed to bring the novel to an international audience, but Pasternak informs him that Soviet publishing houses have said nothing about it and he fears it will never be published because it doesn’t conform to the State’s “cultural guidelines” (140). Sergio convinces Pasternak to give him the manuscript so that they can begin work on the Italian translation. Pasternak gives it to him, knowing that it could be dangerous for him. The next day Sergio meets Feltrinelli in West Berlin, where he gives him the manuscript. He tells him about the Soviet ban and Pasternak’s thought that he might be executed for it, but Feltrinelli disregards that, believing the Soviets will change their minds.

Olga learns that Boris gave the manuscript to an Italian to be published, and she’s furious that he would be so selfish because she will be targeted for imprisonment again. He agrees to let her ask for it back, so she visits Sergio in Moscow. He informs her that it is too late—the translations have started. In addition, Boris gave him permission to have it published when he said, “May it make its way around the world” (150). Olga tries desperately to have the book published in the USSR before the Italian version comes out. She meets with Polikarpov, the Central Committee’s Culture Department head, who agrees with her that if the novel is to be published at all, it must be published in the Soviet Union first. Polikarpov insists the manuscript be returned and that the novel not be published at all because if there is a different version from what the Soviets publish, a solution Olga suggests, then it will be an embarrassment for the State. Polikarpov gives her a telegram for Feltrinelli to have Boris sign, demanding the return of the manuscript, ostensibly so that he can revise the draft. Initially, Boris is reluctant because he doesn’t want to be a coward again. He tells Olga that when his poet friend Osip was arrested for reciting an anti-Stalin poem, Boris didn’t try to defend him—and Stalin himself even called to ask why. When Olga points out that she went to prison for him, Boris relents and signs the telegram. He knows, however, that Feltrinelli will ignore it because he and Boris arranged for any communication from Boris that is not in French to be ignored.

After the Valentine’s dinner, Irina finds herself slipping into actually dating Teddy. Eight months into the relationship, though Irina is comfortable with him, she doesn’t feel passion. At Ralph’s with the typing pool one day, they spot a glamorous woman who later shows up at headquarters, chatting with Anderson. He introduces her as Sally Forrester, a new part-time receptionist. On her way home, Irina buys an expensive blouse, as she feels her wardrobe is pathetic compared to Sally’s. At home, Irina’s mother is busy and tired from sewing a prom dress in hopes of breaking into the American teen market with her business. Irina wears her new blouse to work the next day, wanting to have a pleasing appearance for Sally, but Sally does not show up again for another two weeks. Sally later asks Irina to show her a good place for lunch, but she ends up picking the place, as she knows the District well. Over lunch, she asks Irina if she likes the typing pool or her other work better. Irina is surprised that she knows about that, but Sally tells her that she does similar work sending messages.

The next day, Anderson informs Irina that Sally will be taking over her training. As they walk through Georgetown, Sally has her make assessments about the people they see and what their stories are. As the training continues, Sally reveals that she’s played many roles in her time with OSS and that Irina will need to become a new person, too, as she does fieldwork. When Sally returns from an overseas mission, she invites Irina to a post-Halloween costume party. They meet in a bookstore and change into their costumes: Sputnik dogs they call Muttnik. Sally reveals that she’d love to own a bookstore someday. They attend a lavish party where Sally asks direct questions about Irina’s relationship with Teddy and what she knows about his friend Henry. When Sally squeezes her hand, Irina feels the stirring of a new emotion.

Sally reports to Frank that Irina is not a mole, as he tasked her with finding out. Sally feels something for Irina but tries to ignore it. As a fan of movies, she invites Irina to see a film with her to see if they share that interest. She continues to take Irina out to bookstores, museums, and movies. Sally realizes that she has romantic feelings for Irina, something she suppressed since returning from her OSS work in Kandy, when a woman named Jane broke her heart. Sally knows people who have been arrested or had their lives ruined for pursuing same-sex relationships, so she agrees to go on a mission to Milan when Frank asks so that she can distract herself. In Milan, her mission is to attend the book party for Doctor Zhivago, procure a copy of the book, and get information out of Feltrinelli about Pasternak. While she is there, a man approaches her and tells her he runs a dry-cleaning business in Washington and she should look it up sometime. She knows he’s a covert agent but doesn’t know for whom. Sally only has a brief interaction with Feltrinelli, however, and realizes that he prefers younger women. After getting by on her appearance for her work, she starts to have a crisis of confidence. When she flips through Doctor Zhivago, the card for the mysterious man’s dry-cleaning business falls out. She hides it in her cigarette case.

Under an assumed identity, Teddy flies to London. On the way, he reflects on how he switched from prelaw to Slavic languages in college because reading Russian literature was how he overcame the depression he had after his brother’s death. In his briefcase, he carries the manuscript of an unfinished novel that he’s writing. He thought about proposing to Irina, but he has the sense that something is off in their relationship. In London, he meets with a British agent code-named Chaucer to get microfilm of Doctor Zhivago in the original Russian from MI6 because the Agency believes it will be more powerful than a potentially faulty translation.

Frank debriefs Sally on her Milan mission, but she omits the part about the man with the dry-cleaning card. She meets Irina to go ice-skating, but when Irina tells her that Teddy proposed, Sally responds coolly, which upsets Irina. Later that evening, she shows up at Sally’s apartment and kisses her. The two make love; however, Sally still needles her about being with Teddy. Frank asked Sally to get closer to Henry to determine whether he is a mole, so for New Year’s Eve she attends an inner-circle party and flirts with him. He pulls her into a coat closet, where he confronts her about asking around about him. He assaults her, saying it’s what the Agency uses her for, but when she spits at him, he says that there are rumors that she is lesbian too. He rapes her. He escorts her out of the closet at the end of the party, passing by Anderson, who doesn’t acknowledge her or her disheveled state. She goes home and sleeps for a full day. Then she takes out the dry-cleaning card, memorizes the address, and burns it.

Irina waits outside the National Cathedral for Chaucer, who will deliver the microfilms with Doctor Zhivago in Russian. She’s wearing a long coat that Sally bought her and Teddy’s grandmother’s ring, with which he proposed. She delivers the package to a safe house before meeting Sally at a Chinese restaurant. Sally calls an end to their romance and pushes Irina away by calling it a friendship and saying they’ll still see each other at work in a professional way. Irina feels insulted and upset. She runs out.

The unnamed narrator muses about how Irina stood out in the typing pool because she didn’t draw notice or try to. In fact, the women in the pool often don’t realize she is there. They intuit that Irina was hired for other skills, and that assumption is confirmed when they see her name attached to memos about Sputnik and Doctor Zhivago. They notice that she did not have her engagement ring resized and sometimes forgets to put it back on at the end of the day. The women pitch in to buy Irina a negligee to celebrate her engagement, but Irina cries when she sees it. They note a change in Irina’s demeanor, more confidence, after she starts training with Sally. Sally throws a birthday party for Irina, which the typists think is a little too much, but they respect Sally, so they don’t mind. Later, Sally’s name is redacted from Agency memos, and the women begin to think she is not who they thought she was.

A couple months after Irina’s birthday, her mother and Teddy’s parents are going ahead with wedding preparations. Irina’s mother is making her dress, but she’s concerned that Irina is much thinner now. Since the break from Sally, Irina has no appetite and no desire to be social. Rumors about Sally dating Henry abound, as they are seen together on multiple occasions after the New Year’s party. Irina feels used. She asks Anderson about the possibility of a foreign posting. When he points out that she’s engaged to be married, she says that it’s beside the point. Busy working on dresses, her mother complains of exhaustion and that her eyes don’t work. After taking her to various doctors, they learn she has a mass; however, she refuses treatment. Angry that her mother would say such a thing, Irina storms out of the room, and she regrets this the next morning when she finds her mother dead. At the funeral, Irina realizes that her mother helped people in the community for a long time, often giving away her work. She sees Sally there, who touches her arm. After a week, Irina tries calling her, but there’s no answer.