Review of "Silverview: An Espionage Novel" by John le Carré

Stewart Proctor is in the upper echelons of the British Secret Service and - during and after the Cold War - oversaw the handlers who actually recruited and ran spies.



During the Bosnian war, a husband and wife team of handlers recruited a Polish polylinguist named Edward Avon, an avid anti-communist eager to help the British cause.



Avon was to integrate himself into Serbian and Bosnian communities, gather data, and report back to his handlers, who would pass the information to Proctor.



Edward was considered a prize acquisition, and when his spy career ended, he moved to a British seaside region called East Anglia and got married.



In the present day, Secret Service honcho Stewart Proctor gets a letter from a British agent, which leads him to launch an investigation into Edward Avon.



Meanwhile, back in East Anglia, Julian Lawndsley- who got rich in London's business world - recently quit the rat race and opened a bookstore.



Julian is happy to chat when (former spy) Edward Avon drops into the bookstore one evening, since the gentleman with the European accent is amiable and erudite. Julian learns that Edward and his wife Deborah live on a ritzy East Anglian estate called Silverview, and that Deborah has terminal cancer.



Before long Edward convinces Julian to create an annex in the bookstore's basement called the Republic of Literature, which will carry 'literary books.' Edward will select and order the books using Julian's computer.



Julian soon learns that Edward once had a business deal with a local bric-a-brac store, to sell his wife's blue and white porcelain. This endeavor also required using the shop's computer.



Julian thinks nothing of all this, but the reader gets suspicious....especially when Edward asks for additional favors from Julian.

Meanwhile, spymaster Stewart Proctor is traveling around England interviewing people who knew Avon in his espionage days, trying to re-create Edward's history with the Secret Service.



In the course of the story we get a peek into the lives of intelligence agents, who have spouses and children like the rest of society, but whose work takes a huge toll on their personal lives. We also learn the truth about Edward Avon, and it's an interesting revelation.

This is John le Carré's last novel, published after his death, and it's not the writer's best work (in my opinion). Still, for people who like stories about spies and spycraft, the book is worth reading.


Author John le Carré

Rating: 3 stars