Arts, Books

Book Club: ‘Silverview’ by John Le Carré

SYNOPSIS

JOHN LE CARRÉ’S 26th novel, published after his death in 2020, is set in a small seaside town in East Anglia where 33-year-old Julian Lawndsley has recently renounced a high-flying City career for the quieter occupation of running a bookshop.

It is not long before Julian meets Edward Avon, an old book-lover who lives in a house named Silverview.

Edward claims to have been at school with Julian’s father, a disgraced clergyman, but his past life seems rich in mystery. He is married to Deborah, a former intelligence agent, and it is not long before he asks Julian to deliver a letter to an enigmatic woman.

Meanwhile, a spy chief in London is investigating the source of a leak, whose origins seem to lead him to Julian’s town.

Silverview is a posthumous gem-like and masterful treat for many of his avid readers.

Published by Penguin, 224pp

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Arts, Books

Book Club: Open Water

SYNOPSIS: INSIGHT

AT a birthday party in the basement of a south London pub, a young man meets a young woman. “You’re both artists,” says a mutual friend. “She’s a very talented dancer …he’s a photographer.” The man is there to take pictures.

When his work is complete, he looks around for her and soon realises she’s gone; however, he knows they will meet again.

Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Costa Prize-winning debut novel charts the turbulent course of a love affair between two complicated and creative individuals.

“You joked as a photographer that you spent time chasing light,” the unnamed narrator reflects, “but you should’ve also said you bent darkness as well.”

The author brings a fierce emotional intensity to his elegant love story. It unfolds amid a richly detailed depiction of the light and darkness of living and loving in London.

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson is published by Viking, 160pp

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