Silverview Audiobook By John le Carré cover art

Silverview

A Novel

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Silverview

By: John le Carré
Narrated by: Toby Jones
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

An instant New York Times bestseller!

In his last completed novel, John le Carré turns his focus to the world that occupied his writing for the past sixty years—the secret world itself.

“[Le Carré] was often considered one of the finest novelists, period, since World War II. It’s not that he 'transcended the genre,' as the tired saying goes; it’s that he elevated the level of play… [Silverview’s] sense of moral ambivalence remains exquisitely calibrated.” —The New York Times Book Review

Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the city for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian’s evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian’s family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise.

When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea . . .

Silverview is the mesmerizing story of an encounter between innocence and experience and between public duty and private morals. In his inimitable voice John le Carré, the greatest chronicler of our age, seeks to answer the question of what we truly owe to the people we love.

©2021 John le Carré (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Espionage International Mystery & Crime Mystery Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Critic reviews

One of:

TIME's "34 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2021"

The Guardian's "50 biggest books of autumn 2021"

Toronto Star's "35 books you need to know about in Fall 2021"

Yahoo’s “20 buzzy books for Fall 2021”

“A fitting requiem for the career of the man who brought a new level of complexity and humanity to espionage fiction.” (Booklist, starred review)

“[In Silverview,] le Carré plays out revelations about [the characters] slowly and teasingly, and, in the end, they’re as damning as you could wish. The real drama, however, is in the present, where all the characters are hopelessly intertwined and compromised by their loves and loyalties, none of them innocent.... The author’s last few novels have been increasingly valedictory, but this one is truly haunted by intimations of mortality.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

Engaging Storyline • Complex Characters • Detailed Descriptions • Intricate Plot • Superb Voice Acting
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
This is the great le Carré's last novel (barring one lurking inside a drawer somewhere), but it's incomplete in two senses, neither of which you can tell from Toby Jones's excellent acting and narration. le Carré did not finish the book. His son Nick Cornwell supplied an afterword that is quite elegant and moving. He doesn't come right out and say it's not fully baked, but the story does not end.

Nick also adds this paragraph which strikes me as essential to an experience of the book (it's clearly meant to be read as part of the novel):

"But Silverview does something that no other le Carré novel ever has. It shows a service fragmented: filled with its own political factions, not always kind to those it should cherish, not always very effective or alert, and ultimately not sure, any more, that it can justify itself. In Silverview, the spies of Britain have, like many of us, lost their certainty about what the country means, and who we are to ourselves. As with Karla in Smiley’s People, so here with our own side: it is the humanity of the service that isn’t up to the task – and that begins to ask whether the task is worth the cost."

Baffling why this bit would be left out. Otherwise, it's a great listen and Toby Jones is a marvel.

Shocking omission: The afterword...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Shame there won’t be sequel. But then that’s Carre’s signature- always leaving us wanting more.

There won’t be a sequel, but…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Not a fast paced whodunnit, but rather a leisurely trip through the world of spies.

le Carre never disappoints!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Short and to the point. What a great book and finale to Le Carre's career.

Superb Le Carre

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loved this book. The ending was a surprise but that was good too. I’m glad it was published.

Realized Le Carre’s books are Dickensian

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

All the markings of typical le Carre (mundane, subtle, detailed) but with a more relatable story line and a low enough character-count that the plot is easy to follow.

Classic le Carre, but more accessible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

loved the narration terrific voices and acting and was fascinated how interesting this spy thriller was even though nothing much happens and think that was the point ☝️

much better than I expected

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Wow. Was listening to this book on Audible and the ending just happened—like the author was tired of writing and just wanted to stop. Wasn’t a very satisfying conclusion.

Quick ending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen

Another John Le Carrë winner

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was enjoying it so much that it came as a rude shock when it suddenly ended. But it was a good ending. Too bad we can't look forward to any more fine stories from Le Carre. It was a great ride while it lasted!

It ended too soon!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews