The Secrets We Kept

“We came to the Agency by way of Radcliffe, Vassar, Smith. We were the first daughters of our families to earn degrees. Some of us spoke Mandarin. Some could fly planes. Some of us could handle a Colt 1873 better than John Wayne. But all we were asked when interviewed was ‘Can you type?’”

This quotation sets up the premise of a company with systemic sexism that underrates and overlooks women’s skills and experience. At the very least, it is a cause for resentment, and at worst, as in the case of Sally, it is a cause for revenge.

“I didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear: that the novel was critical of the revolution. That Boris had rejected socialist realism in favor of writing characters who lived and loved by their hearts’ intent, independent of the State’s influence.”

The “East” parts of the novel center around the elements in this quote. The State puts pressure on Olga to punish Boris, who has written a novel portraying the suffering caused by the State and the heart-led people who experience and witness it.

“I found myself preferring things as one fuzzy whole, not broken down by their clear parts, and so rarely wore my glasses. Or maybe I was just stubborn—I had an idea about how the world was, and anything contrary made me uneasy.”

Irina characterizes herself this way. Though her fuzzy vision does not come into play in the story, the part about being uneasy when the world doesn’t match her concept of it does, especially in terms of how men and Sally see her.