Synopses & Reviews
John le Carré has earned worldwide acclaim with novels that navigate the shadow worlds of espionage. In
The Little Drummer Girl, one of his most enduring works, le Carré took leave of the Circus, George Smiley, and all his people, and presented instead an original canvas that remains, two decades later, stunningly fresh and topical. It was then, and is now, a thrilling, moving, and courageous novel of Middle Eastern intrigue.
Charlie is a promiscuous, unsuccessful, English actress in her twenties. Vacationing on the Greek island of Mykonos with friends, she longs for commitment. But to what? To whom? Intrigued by a handsome, solitary bather, Charlie finds herself lured into the "theatre of the real." For the mysterious man is Kurtz, an embattled Israeli intelligence officer out to stop the bombing of Jews in Europe. Forced to play her most challenging role, Charlie is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap set to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist...and soon proves herself a double agent of the highest order.
Review
"This is le Carre at his richest, most thrilling, and rewarding. Abandoning Smiley
and Karla, le Carre moves into the intrigues of Israeli intelligence, Palestinian terrorism, and the horrors of nondiscriminating death. The story follows the pursuit of an illusive Palestinian terrorist and the 'bait' that is offered up to him in a most magnificent deception—a young English actress named Charlie. The geographical settings move from London to Bonn, Munich to Mykonos, and Vienna to Jerusalem. The research that le Carre has done pays off in a rich descriptive tapestry. But by far his greatest accomplishment in this book (and in any of his works, for that matter) is to reveal, in some of the most passionate dialogue ever written in this genre, the fervent and irreconcilable claims of both Israelis and Palestinians to the twice-promised land that means identity, sanctuary, and survival for both. This is, in the first degree, a moral novel." Reviewed by David T. Gies, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Review
Newsweekle Carré is simply the world's greatest fictional spymaster.
Review
PeopleA triumph...The author's mastery of atmosphere has never served him better.
Review
The Washington PostReality and fiction become fused into something that is at once terrifying and illuminating....The Little Drummer Girl is a work of enormous power and artistry; no mere "entertainment," no mere "espionage novel," but fiction on a grand scale.
Review
The New York TimesAn irresistible book...Charlie is the ultimate double agent.
About the Author
John le CarrÉ was born in 1931. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Honorable Schoolboy, and Smiley's People. His novels include The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy, The Russia House, Our Game, The Taileor of Panama, and Single & Single. John le CarrÉ lives in Cornwall.