’Utterly compelling and meticulously researched, this revealing look at an epic love affair transforms our understanding of a literary masterpiece’ Michael Sheldon

‘Riveting, tragic tale’ New Yorker

‘Anna has produced a fascinating and often heart breaking portrait. Her book, which proceeds as suspensefully as a criminal investigation, is a testament to the profound bond between writer and muse.’ O Magazine

‘A gripping and well-researched book [that] seeks to establish Olga’s place in history’ Express

‘[A] gripping if sad chapter in history and she tells it well’ Evening Standard

‘Meticulously researched’ Sunday Times

‘Anna Pasternak has produced an irresistible account of joy, suffering and passion’ Financial Times

‘A story with enough romance and suffering to make a moving novel or film in its own right’ Observer

‘Anna Pasternak does not spare an ounce of drama nor detail from the story of her great uncle's love affair with Olga Ivinskaya, the inspiration for Doctor Zhivago’s Lara. The result is a profoundly moving meditation on love, loyalty, and, ultimately, forgiveness’ Amanda Foreman

‘A … marvellously interesting book … There are no happy endings in either [‘Doctor Zhivago’ or ‘Lara’], but both are fascinating tales’ Spectator

‘Passionate and intriguing … this is a brave and necessary rebuttal to much of the historical record’ Country & Town House

‘A fascinating story … I had already read Doctor Zhivago, but I wish I could have read this book then, too, for I have now been greatly enlightened, as well as much entertained’ Country Life

‘An enchanting love story, wonderfully told’ Sir Ronald Harwood

‘Lara is a quest to give recognition to a woman immortalized in Doctor Zhivago, yet consumed by the meat grinder of the Soviet state, then erased by the Pasternak family. Lara – the story of one of Stalin’s innumerable victims, is a particularly poignant book’ Washington Post