Amid the bursts of humor, le Carré convincingly conveys his empathy for the African nation and his cynicism at its would-be saviors […] Especially impressive is the character of Salvo, who's a far cry from the author's typical protagonist but is just as plausible.—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Bruno Salvador, known to friends and enemies alike as Salvo, is the ever-innocent, twenty-nine-year-old orphaned love-child of a Catholic Irish missionary and a Congolese headman's daughter. Educated first at mission school in the East Congolese province of Kivu, and later at a discreet sanctuary for the secret sons of Rome, Salvo is inspired by his mentor Brother Michael to train as a professional interpreter in the minority African languages of which, almost from birth, he has been an obsessive collector.

Soon a rising star in his profession, he is courted by City corporations, hospitals, law courts, the Immigration services and—inevitably—the mushrooming overworld of British Intelligence. He is also courted—and won—by the all-white, Surrey-born Penelope, star reporter on one of our great national newspapers, whom with typical impulsiveness he promptly marries. Yet even as the story opens, a contrary and irresistible love is dawning in him. Dispatched to a no-name island in the North Sea to attend a top-secret meeting between Western financiers and East Congolese warlords, Salvo is obliged to interpret matters never intended for his re-awoken African conscience.

The twentieth novel of John le Carré's storied career, The Mission Song is a tale of mystery and corruption that bears the hallmarks of classic le Carré storytelling. By turns thriller, romance, and exposé of post-colonial politics, The Mission Song chronicles interpreter Bruno Salvador’s journey into the darkness of Western hypocrisy and deceit. Actor and musician Theo Ogundipe narrates this new audiobook edition.