The Secret Life of John le Carré was chosen as LitFest’s 2024 Big Town Read. Now in its twelfth year, run in partnership with Wiltshire libraries, it is always a highlight of the festival. Adam Sisman published a biography of John le Carré in 2015 but le Carré did not give him permission to publish information about the numerous extra-marital affairs le Carré had had throughout his life. When le Carré died in December 2020, followed two months later by his wife, Mary, Sisman was free to publish the full story and set the record straight.
In conversation with Jon Stock, author and journalist, Sisman spoke of his long association with le Carré, calling him by his real name David Cornwell. While writing Cornwell’s biography he felt quite close to him and his family but this was to change somewhat when he discovered David’s affairs.
Sisman described Cornwell as “fascinating, problematic, charming, extremely talented and I think an unhappy man.” As Sisman uncovered the affairs Cornwell became “more anxious about what I was going to write and then to an alarming degree where in a letter he was threatening suicide if I revealed the truth.” Sisman commented that he is a great admirer of his books and the last thing he wanted to do was make him unhappy. A compromise was reached that Sisman would keep an annex of information about the affairs for a posthumous publication.
The affairs were numerous, at least twenty, and since the publication of The Secret Life of John le Carré, Sisman is still uncovering more of them. “I heard about another one today! The affairs seemed to be integral to his life and inseparable. He seemed to need to have the jeopardy and excitement and was more interested in the danger than in the liaison itself. The women I spoke to said they felt they were being run like agents. David used codewords, deadletter drops and safe houses – the tradecraft of espionage – to conduct the affairs. He had had this exciting early life (he was once a spy in British Intelligence) and he filled the gap and fuelled the novels by having the affairs.”
Were there any other explanations for the affairs? Sisman felt Cornwell’s tragic childhood must have played a part. His father spent two terms in prison for fraud and had used Cornwell and his older brother as frontmen for his deceptions. His mother left the family home when he was five. “He hated his mother and never forgave her. He had an extraordinary mistrust of women and could never have a proper relationship. He had to seduce them and then abandon them. He was this churning mass of unhappiness underneath outward charm.”
So how do these revelations affect the enjoyment of le Carré novels? Sisman feels that our enjoyment of the novels should not be diminished by knowing these facts. Some members of the audience disagreed. However, it is indisputable that le Carré’s books and films of his books have been a worldwide success. He was at the top of the best seller lists for 60 years. Sisman believes that le Carré’s best books which in his opinion are A Perfect Spy and The Spy that came in from the Cold will stand the test of time and shed light on the Cold War for future generations.
Zeinab Badawi at Marlborough LitFest
