BRAND NEW Please allow 4-7 working days for delivery This item is shipped from our NZ warehouse

John le Carre by Sisman, Adam

ISBN: 9781408827932 PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC FORMAT: Paperback PAGES: 672 PUBLICATION DATE: 19.10.2015 DIMENSIONS: 23.4 x 15.3 centimetres

DESCRIPTION: Over half a century since The Spy Who came in from the Cold made John le Carre a worldwide, bestselling sensation, David Cornwell, the man behind the pseudonym, remains an enigma. He has consistently quarried his life for his writing, and his novels seem to offer tantalizing glimpses of their author - but in the narrative of his life fact and fiction have become intertwined, and little is really known of one of the world's most successful writers. In Cornwell's lonely childhood Adam Sisman uncovers the origins of the themes of love and abandonment which have dominated le Carre's fiction: the departure of his mother when he was five, followed by 'sixteen hugless years' in the dubious care of his father, a man of energy and charm, a serial seducer and conman who hid the Bentleys in the trees when the bailiffs came calling - a 'totally incomprehensible father' who could 'put a hand on your shoulder and the other in your pocket, both gestures equally sincere'. And in Cornwell's adult life - from recruitment by both MI5 and MI6, through marriage and family life, to his emergence as the master of the spy novel - Sisman explores the idea of espionage and its significance in human terms; the extent to which betrayal is acceptable in exchange for love; and the endless need for forgiveness, especially from oneself. Written with exclusive access to David Cornwell himself, to his private archive and to the most important people in his life -

• Orders after Monday 12th cannot be guaranteed for Christmas
• Dispatch warehouse is closed from 12pm 23rd Dec - Friday 6th Jan
• If using business address pls use PO Box as do not use courier