The Oldie

Le Carré's dirty linen

The Secret Life of John le Carré

By Adam Sisman

Profile Books £16.99

Halfway through Adam Sisman's 2015 biography of John le Carré, something odd occurs. The book simply shuts up shop. You can all but hear the rattle of the roller shutter as if it's half-day closing.

How did this happen?

The short answer is that David Cornwell (le Carré's real name) got married again. Previously, at the fag end of his first marriage, he had been rambunctiously playing away with Susan Kennaway, the wife of his bosom friend James Kennaway. Both

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