The saga surrounding the Nobel Prize-winning novel Doctor Zhivago continues to captivate, even decades after its publication. A recent legal battle involving a descendant of Doctor Zhivago Author, Boris Pasternak, and another writer highlights the enduring interest in the lives and stories behind this literary masterpiece. Anna Pasternak, Boris Pasternak’s great-niece, brought a copyright infringement claim against Lara Prescott, the author of The Secrets We Kept, a novel exploring the CIA’s covert operation to disseminate Doctor Zhivago during the Cold War.
The heart of the dispute lay in Prescott’s The Secrets We Kept and its portrayal of Olga Ivinskaya, Boris Pasternak’s lover and the acknowledged inspiration for Lara Guishar, the iconic heroine of Doctor Zhivago. Anna Pasternak argued that seven chapters in Prescott’s historical fiction novel improperly borrowed from her 2016 biography, Lara, which meticulously details Ivinskaya’s life and her passionate, tumultuous relationship with the doctor zhivago author.
Julie Christie’s portrayal of Lara in Doctor Zhivago film adaptation, capturing the essence of the muse who inspired Boris Pasternak.
Ivinskaya’s significance extends beyond being a mere muse; she was deeply intertwined with the creation and eventual publication of Doctor Zhivago. As highlighted in Anna Pasternak’s biography, Ivinskaya endured immense personal hardship due to her association with the doctor zhivago author and his politically sensitive work. This biographical depth is what Anna Pasternak sought to protect, claiming that Prescott had copied the “selection, structure and arrangement of facts and incidents” from Lara in depicting Ivinskaya’s narrative within The Secrets We Kept.
Prescott’s novel, The Secrets We Kept, published in 2019, weaves a fictionalized account around the historical context of the Cold War and the CIA’s efforts to utilize literature as a propaganda tool. Doctor Zhivago, with its themes of individual freedom and resistance against totalitarianism, became a prime target for this operation. Prescott’s narrative explores this historical backdrop, incorporating elements of Ivinskaya’s life as depicted in Anna Pasternak’s biography and other historical sources.
However, in a ruling delivered at the High Court in London, Justice Edwin Johnson dismissed Anna Pasternak’s claim. The judge emphasized the fundamental difference between the two works. Lara is a non-fiction historical account, committed to factual accuracy, while The Secrets We Kept is explicitly historical fiction. Justice Johnson stated, “Lara is a nonfictional historical work… TSWK is a work of historical fiction. It is based on real events, but those real events have been woven into the story devised by the defendant, and have themselves been adapted to suit the story.”
Boris Pasternak, the Nobel Prize-winning author behind Doctor Zhivago, whose life and work continue to inspire literary discourse and debate.
The judgment underscored that while both books draw upon the same historical events surrounding Boris Pasternak, Olga Ivinskaya, and the creation of Doctor Zhivago, Prescott did not unlawfully copy Anna Pasternak’s work. Both authors utilized similar primary source materials, leading to inevitable overlaps in the chronology and some details. However, Justice Johnson concluded that these similarities did not constitute copyright infringement, as Prescott had not copied the specific selection and arrangement of events unique to Lara.
Adding a notable dimension to the case, Justice Johnson remarked on the “extraordinary” fact that Anna Pasternak had initiated the copyright claim without even reading Prescott’s novel. This detail further weakened the claim and highlighted the complexities of copyright law in the realm of historical and biographical narratives.
Lara Prescott, reacting to the judgment, expressed her relief and vindication, affirming her “artistic integrity” throughout the extensive research and writing process of her novel. Anna Pasternak, while on the losing side, stated that she “felt compelled to bring” the claim to protect her family’s “literary heritage” and advocate for stronger safeguards for non-fiction writers against the increasing trend of historical fiction.
This legal case serves as a fascinating intersection of literary legacy, copyright law, and the enduring power of Doctor Zhivago. It highlights the ongoing interest in the doctor zhivago author, Boris Pasternak, and the real-life inspirations behind his timeless characters, while also navigating the delicate balance between biographical accuracy and fictional interpretation in literature.
