In “A Legacy of Spies” (Viking, $28), when the author refers to “the Wall,” he isn’t talking about Donald Trump’s vision for America’s border with Mexico. Because that author is John le Carré, his millions of followers can assume correctly that Berlin in the 1960s is going to be mentioned. What may come as a surprise is how much of the book takes place in the present, and how beguiling its narrator turns out to be.
The publicity supporting the release of this book shouts the fact that George Smiley returns in “A Legacy of Spies,” his first appearance in a novel by Mr. Le Carré in 25 years. This intriguing character, the head of covert operations for the British Secret Intelligence Service, is featured in revered titles such as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1963) and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (1974).
But an entire generation may never have met Smiley and will know Mr. Le Carré from his later works, including “The Night Manager,” which last year was adapted as an Emmy award-winning miniseries on AMC. Fans old and new should not be disappointed that Smiley’s role in “A Legacy of Spies” ends up being minor. Instead, welcome Peter Guillam, the charismatic and emotionally engaging star of this installment.
Back in the day, Peter was Smiley’s “gatekeeper and trusted disciple.” Now he’s an old man living in his farmhouse on the coast of France. What’s exciting about this early section is that like Mr. Le Carré himself, writing this stellar novel in his mid-80s, Peter redefines aging. He is vivid and vital with a dry wit and a sharp memory. What kickstarts the plot is a letter summoning him to MI6 headquarters in London.
There is great humor in Peter’s arrival at Vauxhall Cross (the building that blew up in the James Bond movie “Skyfall”). He absolutely hates the architecture, describing it as a grotesque fortress, shockingly ostentatious, and Lubyanka on the Thames. Once inside he notes the difference between then and now: “No jolly chatter of typewriters, no unanswered telephones ringing off the hook, no clapped out trolly rattling its way like the milkman’s van.”
Soon two MI6 attorneys, Bunny and Laura, inform Peter that a lawsuit has been brought against him and the Service by agent Alec Leamas’ son, Christoph, and Elizabeth Gold’s daughter, Karen. The couple were shot to death at the Berlin Wall 50 years ago during an operation called Windfall. Bunny says: “Cross-party MPs want to use Windfall as an example of what happens when the surveillance society is allowed to run amok.”
But the files have disappeared and they need Peter to reveal their location. What happens next is the heart of the story. Peter not only leads the lawyers to Windfall’s archives, but takes readers back in time to relive the events leading up to the operation. The details are baroquely complicated, which is Mr. Le Carré’s signature style, like a nesting doll of double-agents and disinformation. The construction is elegantly vintage, tense and atmospheric, with sharply differentiated characters and highly charged emotions.
Peter says: “When the truth catches up to you, don’t be a hero, run.” But Mr. Le Carré does not shy away, and asks what was accomplished by all the death and deception.
Those who like “A Legacy of Spies” will be interested to know that the same team who produced “The Night Manager” will bring “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” to TV in 2018. The legacy of John le Carré seems guaranteed.
Margie Romero is communications manager at the Pittsburgh Public Theater.
First Published: September 25, 2017, 2:58 p.m.
