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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 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 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 Carre 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 Carre was adamant that some subjects should remain hidden, at least during his lifetime. The Secret Life of John le Carre 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 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. ‘Now that he is dead,’ Sisman writes, ‘we can know him better.’

Publisher Review

A completely fascinating and revelatory book, written with great sagacity, candour and judiciousness — William Boyd, author * Any Human Heart * A fascinating, revelatory appendix … Sisman’s latest book exposes the great spy writer’s duplicitous and deceitful relationships with the women in his life, providing new insights into the inner workings of the man who created George Smiley — ‘Best Books of the Year 2023’ * Financial Times * Enjoyable … moves beyond voyeurism to reveal the deep sadness behind the lies … Sisman can set the record straight — ‘Books of the Year 2023’ * The Times * [A] seamy, steamy supplement to the biography — ‘Books of the Year’ * Daily Mail * [Sisman] is a delicate writer keen to acknowledge the ambiguity of the biographer’s role * Guardian * Scrupulous as a biographer … Sisman justifies his argument that this coda of his is a necessary one. It enables us to have a clearer view of the man … It also allows us to understand his novels better … Psychologically astute. — James Owen. ‘Book of the Week’ * The Times * Complex and consequential … casts le Carre’s life and writing in a fresh light … a fascinating examination of the biographer’s art * Washington Post * Fascinating * New Statesman * Revealing … shocking * Observer * Fascinating … painfully honest and anguished — Robert McCrum * Independent * Revelatory … effectively rewrites the way [le Carre] will be perceived by posterity — William Boyd, ‘Books of the Year’ * Daily Express * Enlightening * Wall Street Journal * Sisman is the biographers’ biographer * Church Times * Intriguing … admirably concise … sub-themes, such as the practice and ethics of biography and the emotional toll of spying, run through [the book] — ‘Books of the Year 2023’ * Spectator * Entertaining * Irish Independent * Thoughtful, self-aware and nuanced .. Sisman here is, as always, readable, honest, careful * Arts Desk * Given his history of spy novels, it should come as little surprise that the late Le Carre was a man adept at secrecy himself. And here his complicated private life is fully exposed for the first time * i News * A determined and at times forensic attempt to set the record straight … deeply entertaining * Spectator World * Scintillating * Oldie * Remarkably unflinching … Sisman uncovers a previously hidden and discomfiting dimension of le Carre … future accounts will have to wrestle with the bombshells dropped here. * Publisher’s Weekly * This is a book for le Carre fans, for anyone interested in the art of fiction, and for anyone interested in the art of biography. * Book Brunch * A one-of-a-kind revisiting of a wondrously productive life lived at the expense of two wives and many lovers … Sisman demonstrates how betrayal was the leitmotif of both the novelist’s life and his art and that however completely he depended on his wives, he depended on a new woman to serve as his inspiration for each book * Kirkus Reviews * Few writers have curated their image so effectively as John le Carre. In this page-turning follow-up to his 2015 biography, published when his subject was still kickingly alive, Adam Sisman completes the task of showing us who he was – a minor spy who became a major novelist, whose most important agents in the field were the women he needed to love and then betray. For le Carre, tradecraft was lovecraft. Much more than What Was Left Out, The Secret Life of John le Carre is not merely the conclusive homage to a compulsively fascinating character, but an insightful study into the biographical process itself. Even David Cornwell, the man who actually was John le Carre, would have saluted him — Nicholas Shakespeare