The Secret Life of John le Carre

Secret Life of John le Carre delves into aspects of the author's life that were not included in his earlier biography due to le Carré's wishes. Published in 2023, it focuses on le Carré's complex personal relationships and how they influenced his writing, revealing a pattern of serial womanizing that spanned five decades.

Secrecy came naturally to John le Carré, 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 Carré 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.