Olga battles conflicting emotions of pride that Boris won the Nobel Prize—and that she served as the inspiration for the character of Lara—and fear of retaliation from the State. She recognizes that they have both aged and may not be able to handle the strife that is surely to come. The Soviet Writers’ Union starts gathering writers—some of them friends of Boris—to condemn him. Ira reports that her school held a demonstration against him and attendance was mandatory. Boris sends a letter to the Writers’ Union in defense of his work, but every writer there condemns him, and he is expelled from the Union. As Olga prepares to burn all her notes related to his writing, Boris arrives. He is starting to doubt his actions, feeling it has all been for nothing. Boris suggests that he and Olga overdose on some pills he saved from when he was in the hospital. Mitya angrily confronts him, but Olga sends him away. She realizes there once was a time when she would have rather died than go on without him, but she does not feel that way now. She tells him to wait a day, as she has a plan. She goes to Fedin, who is now the head of the Writers’ Union, and tells him about Boris’s planned suicide. Fedin suggests that both Olga and Boris see Polikarpov in person and that Boris apologize. Before she tells Boris about this plan, he calls her to say that he has sent a telegram to Sweden, declining the Nobel, and another to the Kremlin, letting them know he did it.

Sally finally reads her last remaining copy of Doctor Zhivago, an English edition. She still thinks of Irina and considers calling her on her birthday but doesn’t. One day she sees the woman who told her about Henry and follows her to a café, where she points out a man in the back before leaving. It’s the man she met in Milan who gave her the dry-cleaning card. He now speaks to her in a Russian accent and tells her that she could be an “opener of doors” (302), which Sally understands as a reference to entering the Russian embassy as a double agent. They toast the occasion with champagne.

Doctor Zhivago is the most sought-after book in the Soviet Union, though it is still illegal. The story has even been optioned for a Hollywood film. Olga keeps the money from the publisher hidden in her house. Boris initially did not want to keep the money, since the State prevented him from making a living with his writing or translations, but Olga talked him into it, largely because her family needs the money. Olga stays in Moscow, hoping the crowdedness will offer her some protection. Her children are angry, though, and spend as much time away from her as possible. There is increased surveillance, and sometimes Boris is denounced on television. He tells Olga that he’s written a letter to the Kremlin asking to emigrate with Olga. However, he already asked his wife, who said no, and he has no plans for her family. After a while, however, he tears up the letter, not wanting to leave the land he loves. When the State cuts off his mail service, his lifeline to the outside world, Olga starts receiving letters on his behalf and delivering them to him. Many are from supporters, such as fellow writers, but some are from detractors. Olga asks a connection she has from Novy Mir if there is anything the authors’ rights division can do to help him, but since he was expelled from the Writers’ Union there is not. Another man, Isidor Gringolts, suggests that Boris write a letter of apology to Khruschev; Isidor himself writes it, Olga revises it, and Boris signs it. Two days later, Polikarpov tells them that Khruschev received the letter and wants a meeting with them. When they arrive, they realize that they are not meeting Khruschev at all. Polikarpov tells Boris that he needs to write an apology to the people. The next day, more than 20 letters from “the people” appear in a journal denouncing Boris as a traitor. Boris signs the letter of apology to the people.

Disguised as a student, Irina waits in Vienna to distribute smaller copies of Doctor Zhivago, along with three other books, at the World Youth Festival. The smaller copies are so people can hide them more easily. Irina thinks she sees Sally in line for the Ferris wheel, but it is not her. Over the years, Irina thinks she sees Sally in locations around the world. Even after she enters a satisfying relationship with a nurse, she still thinks she catches glimpses of Sally.

Olga uses some of the secret money to have a party for Boris’s 70th birthday. He is working on a play. His health is ailing, so he gives Olga the manuscript of his play for safekeeping. She sees him twice after the party. His heart is failing. His bed was moved to the main floor of Big House, and not only does Zinaida not allow Olga on the premises, but Boris also doesn’t want her to see him in such a reduced state. Olga keeps vigil outside his gate for days, along with reporters. Zinaida lets her in only once he dies. Though the death notice is brief, thousands of people show up for his funeral and recite his poems. Zinaida and her children try to remove Olga from his history. Two months after Boris’s death, government agents search Olga’s house for the money. They don’t find it, but they arrest her anyway. She is sentences to eight years in the Gulag, and Ira is sentenced to three. Olga resumes her letters to imaginary Semionov, stating that she will not be erased.

Women from the typing pool get together to see the 1965 film version of Doctor Zhivago. They see Irina in the character of Lara. While some of the typists remain at the Agency, others have moved on. Gail took over Anderson’s position after he died. Norma got a degree in creative writing, married Teddy, and published a thriller novel. In the 1980s, Doctor Zhivago is published in Russia and the Nobel Prize is re-awarded to Pasternak, whose son accepts it. The women see a newspaper article about an 89-year-old American woman arrested in London for Soviet-era espionage. The women recognize her as Sally Forrester. The article states that she had been living with another woman above a bookstore she owned. The women hope that the unnamed woman is Irina.