The Secrets We Kept

One night Mitya wakes Olga because there is someone outside their house. Ira calls out to the intruder to show himself. Both children have seen men following them. Olga tries to assuage their fears, but she has been followed, too. When she brings up her fears to Borya, however, he is too preoccupied with the success of Doctor Zhivago to pay much attention. Olga understands that he puts the book above all of the rest of them and even his own life. Fortunately, that night the intruder is just a couple of foxes. Mitya and Ira think they should get pistols, but Olga tells them it wouldn’t do any good. She tries to distract Mitya by asking if he’s excited about summer camp, but he says he would prefer another camp where they build things, which costs more. This leads him to ask why Boris doesn’t marry Olga or at least give her more money. She explains that “sometimes love isn’t enough” (242).

The Agency contracted with the New York publisher Felix Morrow to prepare the proofs of Doctor Zhivago and send them off to the Netherlands for publication to cover the tracks of American involvement. However, Morrow started talking about the project and having it reviewed by Russian scholars.