1949: the celebrated Russian author Boris Pasternak is writing the novel that will become Doctor Zhivago. The Soviets, afraid of its subversive power, ban it. But in the rest of the world it is fast becoming a sensation. In Washington DC, the CIA is planning to use the book to tip the Cold War in its favour. However, their agents are not the usual spies. Two typists are charged with the mission of a lifetime: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago back into Russia by any means necessary. It will not be easy. There are people prepared to die for this book, and agents willing to kill for it. Passions, power, secrets and a banned masterpiece with the power to change history lie at the heart of this irresistible novel.