A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carre 1945-2020

A collection of letters from John le Carre, one of the greatest British novelists of our time, and a fabulous letter writer, spanning decades from his childhood, to the Cold War to his final years

John le Carre was one of the greatest novelists of his generation. He also had an extraordinary life. A Private Spy is the story of that life told through the voice of this masterful writer.

We hear le Carre as a teenager and then as a young man trying to make his way in the world. There are beautiful and moving letters to le Carre’s stepmother about his relationship with his fraudster father. There are letters about his first marriage and letters to his children. There are wonderfully vivid letters to great actors and great writers. There are brilliantly sharp and very funny portraits of politicians and public figures. And throughout the collection there is the clear, inimitable voice of this magnificent writer.

By turns intimate and comic, tender and clear-sighted A Private Spy offers a rare and illuminating portrait of one of the great figures of our times.