The Secret Life of John Le Carré

In his first biography of John Le Carre, Adam Sisman made it clear that David Cornwall was a shit person, but he still held back because Cornwall and his wife were still alive. Now that they died in late 2020/early 2021, Sisman twists the knife even more, documenting Cornwall's numerous infidelities during his second marriage. Sisman discloses the context of a statement by Jane, Cornwall's second wife, that "no one can have David all to themselves" and muses that was probably rehearsed by Cornwall. He also links a decline in the quality of Le Carre's later novels to Cornwall "giving up the chase" in his 70s, although personally I don't see such a decline. Sisman is probably taking revenge on his biographical subject whom he admits made show more his life miserable, and I thought the product is kind of interesting. show less

This is what the authour describes as the bits left oout of his two volume biography of David Cornwell, aka John le Carre. It deals with Cornwell's long career as a serial adulterer and how this illustrates the amount of experienced deception that aspect has on the wrter's other activities. It greatly re-inforces my opinion that the lives of writers, especially of fiction may well lower our opinion of their works, which are often the best part of the total experience of the complete package. Artists are often rather like Politics and Sausages, best enjoyed in the final presentation, not in their messy creation. The prose is competent, and the information appears to be accurate.

An interesting read, he led a rather tortured life I think.

A coda to Sisman's earlier full-scale biography, focusing on Cornwell's messy private life.

Sneaker, Womanizer, Lover, Spy
Review of the Harper (US) hardcover (October 24, 2023) of the Profile Books (UK) original (October 12, 2023).

The revelations in The Secret Life of John le Carré do add background to his writing of espionage novels as he apparently carried on a lifetime of extramarital affairs using the various methods used by the spies in his fiction. This included various cut-outs, dead-drops, aliases and safe houses. It all provided fodder for the writing as well, as many lovers would later recognize themselves fictionalized as heroines in the books.

Sisman's book is an addendum to his earlier John le Carré: The Biography (2015) published in Carré's lifetime, for which the biographer agreed to hold back on the author's show more love life in order to gain access to Carré for personal interviews and private archives.

Not all of this is new to veteran Carré watchers, the writer's own The Naive and Sentimental Lover (1971) was a fictionalized account of his affair with Susan Kennaway and his friendship with her husband James Kennaway. At least one lover, Sue Dawson, writing as Suleika Dawson, has penned her own memoir of their affair in The Secret Heart: John le Carré: an intimate memoir (2022).

I read The Secret Life... as part of my current ongoing Carré binge which began with seeing the biographical film The Pigeon Tunnel (2023) at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.

Other Reviews
The Constant Philanderer, by Anthony Cummins, The Guardian, October 15, 2023.

Trivia and Links
An earlier article revealed the upcoming publication of The Secret Life... at Biography to Reveal Secrets Held Back While Author Was Alive, by Sarah Shaffi, The Guardian, March 1, 2023.

See photograph at https://media.rightmove.co.uk/49k/48638/139336214/48638_TRS210037_IMG_00_0000.jp...
John le Carré's home in Cornwall, England which was recently put up for sale. Image sourced from RightMove Co. UK. [Note: Links were working as of November 2, 2023. Image and link may no longer be available once the house is sold.] show less