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Silverview

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In Silverview, John le Carré turns his focus to the world that occupied his writing for the past 60 years - the secret world itself.

Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the City for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian's evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian's family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise.

When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea....

Silverview is the mesmerising story of an encounter between innocence and experience and between public duty and private morals. In his inimitable voice, John le Carré, the greatest chronicler of our age, seeks to answer the question of what we truly owe to the people we love.

©2021 John le Carré (P)2021 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Espionage Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Political Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Law Crime
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RIP John Le Carré - wish we could have had more of this, forever.

Wish it could have gone on & on 😢

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This story was a small disappointment. For some time I did not understand what was going on.

A small disapointment

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Silverview is a better novel than could be hoped for bearing in mind it was put together and published after John Le Carré’s death. Entertaining all the way through. Not as good as his best: A Perfect Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold but not far off; due to its shorter length and lower level of complexity. A wonderful way to sign off. Highly recommended. (less)

The Master Bows Out In Style

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Toby Jones is an ideal narrator for this very enjoyable book by John le Carre

Excellent story by the ultimate spy storyteller

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It's's probably fair to say it is not the master's most compelling or complex of works, but not a bad way to sign off, perhaps still not quite finished.... who knows it might have been embellished a bit more, if time allowed. I feel it was effortless in the sense that it was sort of dialled-in by the great man and done in a fairly short time. I noticed at least one reviewer found Toby Jones to be too dramatic with his voices, but I very much enjoyed the effort he put into it utilising his acting skills including pretty good Polish accents etc. There is still le Carre's classic style to enjoy here. There's a lovely melancholic brooding atmosphere and locales in the novel and I would certainly recommend this to anyone.

Effortless storytelling and spirited narration

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