The Secret Heart is, indeed, an “intimate memoir” of an affair between David Cornwell, nom de plume John le Carre, and Suleika Dawson. David Cornwell, apparently, would never have stood for it to be published in his lifetime and I wonder why, and how, Suleika Dawson could have written in such explicit detail of their sexual encounters, knowing this. I wonder also if his three living sons were given any clue about the book, pre-production.
Cornwell had several short-lived affairs but his relationship with Dawson, including a fourteen year gap, was the longest. His gifts to her, his numerous letters and even some accidentally taped conversations when the answering machine had started before she picked up the phone, are testament to his almost overwhelming love for “Our Sue”, the tall, blonde, beautiful girl (she makes constance references to her appearance), half his age who obviously adored him and had no wish to break up his marital home.
Cornwell was a former spook, having worked for MI5 during the Cold War, and the massively successful John le Carre novels came from that time. Dawson says he loved secrets and subterfuge and I am sure he would be furious that she has blown the lid off his carefully crafted other life.
It was a memoir like no other I’ve ever read, kind of tacky but immensely readable for all that.
Published by Harper Collins Mudlark.
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