Books

Final John le Carré novel coming to bookstores this fall

'Silverview' will be the author's 26th and final novel, focusing on 'the tension between personal and political loyalty'

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 21 May 2021 3:00PM

Final John le Carré novel coming to bookstores this fall
John le Carre, 89, was best known for his Cold War espionage novels ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ and ‘The Spy Who Came In From The Cold’ – AFP pic, May 21, 2021

SPY novel master John le Carré, who died in December 2020, will have a new book on shelves this coming October. 'Silverview' will be the writer's 26th and final novel. 

John le Carré's writing career spanned over half a century until he died from pneumonia in December, age 89. He leaves a body of work including major classics of the spy genre, such as 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' and 'Call for the Dead,' as well as a previously unpublished manuscript, 'Silverview,' which publisher Viking describes as "a brilliantly conceived novel about the tension between personal and political loyalty."

John le Carré worked on 'Silverview' alongside his last two novels, 'A Legacy of Spies' and 'Agent Running in the Field.' It tells the story of Julian Lawndsley, who left a prestigious job in the City to run a bookstore in a small English seaside town. After a few months, he meets a Polish émigré living in Silverview, a big house on the edge of the town, who seems a bit too interested in his new business. 

Add to that an unexpected visit from a member of the British Secret Service, and you get "a superb and fitting final novel," according to Nick Cornwell, the late novelist's youngest son. "This is the authentic le Carré, telling one more story," he said in a statement. "The book is fraught, forensic, lyrical, and fierce, at long last searching the soul of the modern Secret Intelligence Service itself." 

'Silverview' will be released October 14, in the week that would have marked the 90th birthday of John le Carré. A last hurrah for the author, widely regarded as one of the biggest British novelists of his time. And, as if any further proof was required, 'Silverview' is already showing up as one of Amazon's most popular spy novels, five months before its release. – ETX Studio, May 21, 2021

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