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Silverview

The Sunday Times Bestseller

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 this last complete masterwork from the greatest chronicler of our age, John le Carré asks what you owe to your country when you no longer recognise it.

© The Literary Estate of David 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Espionage Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Law Crime

Critic reviews

Valedictory, with a final turn of events that ends surprisingly but pleasingly in a cock-up, this is a satisfying coda to the career of the finest thriller writer of the 20th century
A compelling character study of a supposedly retired spy . . . Such was his rare command of language and unique understanding of how the world really works that I finished the book with a sense that the only real grown-up in the room had left (Jake Kerridge)
As graceful an exit as we could hope for, the old master remaining at the top of his game to the last (Mick Herron)
Nothing will ever match the Cold War spy novels written in his prime, but his later work illuminates themes of loyalty, betrayal and conflicting values in a modern context (Vince Cable)
A superb example of le Carré's enduring and exquisite genius
Gripping and involving, an elegant farewell by a much missed writer (Siân Phillips)
Silverview has many of le Carré's characteristic virtues . . . engaging characters and three or four splendid set scenes in which veteran spooks stir the embers of old fires
Silverview is a cat-and-mouse chase from an East Anglian seaside town to the Eastern Bloc. Published ten months after he passed away, it marks a fitting final work by the master of spy fiction
A taut, thrilling spy novel. Read it as a tribute to a master
Silverview has all the old magic . . . it offers a rewarding post-script to the long-distance spell-binders The Little Drummer Girl and Absolute Friends (David Bromwich)
All stars
Most relevant
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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