Letters of John le Carré to be published in November

A book coming out this fall will show readers a more personal side of the late John le Carré

Books-le Carre Letters (AP2011)

A book coming out this fall will show readers a more personal side of the late John le Carré.

Viking announced Wednesday that “A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré” will be published Nov. 8. Edited by the author's son, Tim Cornwell, the book includes correspondence with Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Laurie and Alec Guinness, the actor famed for playing le Carré's fictional spy, George Smiley, in adaptations of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and other classic thrillers.

“We hear le Carré as a teenager and then as a young man trying to make his way in the world,” according to Viking's announcement. “There are beautiful and moving letters to le Carré’s stepmother about his relationship with his fraudster father. There are letters about his first marriage and letters to his children. There are wonderfully vivid letters to great actors and great writers. There are brilliantly sharp and very funny portraits of politicians and public figures.”

John le Carré was the pen name for David Cornwell, who died in 2020 at age 89.