The Secret Life of John le Carre

Winner of the Crime Fest HRF Keating Award'Not merely the conclusive homage to a compulsively fascinating character, but an insightful study into the biographical process itself' Nicholas Shakespeare'Now that he is dead, we can know him better.'Secrecy came naturally to John le Carr�, 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 four decades. To keep these relationships secret, he made use of tradecraft that he had learned as a spy: code names and cover stories, cut outs, safe houses and dead letter boxes. Such affairs introduced both jeopardy and excitement into what was otherwise a quiet, ordered life. Le Carr� seemed to require the stimulus they provided in order to write, though this meant deceiving those closest to him. It is no coincidence that betrayal became a recurrent theme in his work. Adam Sisman's definitive biography, published in 2015, revealed much about the elusive spy-turned-novelist; yet le Carr� was adamant that some subjects should remain hidden, at least during his lifetime. The Secret Life of John le Carr� is the story of what was left out, and offers reflections on the difficult relationship between biographer and subject. More than that, it adds a necessary coda to the life and work of this complex, driven, restless man. The Secret Life of John le Carr� 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. 'Now that he is dead,' Sisman writes, 'we can know him better.'