Cover image for The secret life of John le Carré / Adam Sisman.
TITLE:
The secret life of John le Carré / Adam Sisman.
Publication Date:
2023
Publication Information:
New York : Harper,
Physical Description:
195 p. : ill.
Geographic Term:
Bibliography Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-181) and index.
Summary:
Secrecy came naturally to John le Carre, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Nowhere was this more so than in his private life. Apparently content in his marriage, the novelist conducted a string of love affairs over five decades. To these relationships he brought much of the tradecraft that he had learned as a spy - cover stories, cut-outs and dead letter boxes. These clandestine operations brought an element of danger to his life, but they also meant deceiving those closest to him. Small wonder that betrayal became a running theme in his work. In trying to manage his biography, the novelist engaged in a succession of skirmishes with his biographer. While he could control what Sisman wrote about him in his lifetime, he accepted that the truth would eventually become known. Following his death in 2020, what had been withheld can now be revealed. The Secret Life of John le Carre reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject.
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780063341043