Changes

Sometimes, it is as if the man we are reading about is a split personality. Le Carré is one of the most successful writers of his age who has admitted to being 'completely out of step with the English literary scene', a man who has dined with presidents and prime ministers, a lifelong Labour voter yet an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, and one of several in public life to have declined a knighthood. Cornwell is a very private man, the inference being that he perhaps never really escaped the shadow of his father, and seems keen to avoid the limelight. Nevertheless , Sisman has opened the door firmly on the man, his personal life and work, and succeeded at taking on the mantle of an authorised biographer who has treated his subject with affection and a measure of objectivity at the same time. The result is a truly comprehensive read.