Thursday, October 24, 6:30 pm at the library. Join us as we discuss Call For the Dead by John LeCarre. Although John LeCarre writes mostly spy novels this selection is a mystery written at the beginning of his writing career. “Intelligent, thrilling, surprising … makes most cloak-and-dagger stuff taste of cardboard.”– Sunday Telegraph (London) With the incomparable opening chapter of Call for the Dead, titled “A Brief History of George Smiley,” John Le Carré introduces his legendary spy and immediately ensnares you in the shadowy world Smiley inhabits. Pulled back from overseas duty during World War II, Smiley was redirected to face the threats of the Cold War. He had been asked to interview Samuel Fennan of the Foreign Office after an anonymous letter accused Fennan of Communist Party membership. Smiley’s report cleared him of the allegations, so he was stunned to learn that Fennan had died the day after the interview, leaving a suicide note that claimed his career had been ruined. Investigating circumstances that make no sense to him, Smiley gradually uncovers a spy ring and in so doing is led into a lethal duel of wits with the best of his war-time pupils.
Extra copies will be available at the circulation desk. Newcomers always welcome!
