Nick Harkaway steps into his father John le Carré's footsteps with spy thriller 'Karla's Choice'

LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — George Smiley, nan subtle fictional spymaster navigating treacherous Cold War currents, is back.

And so, somewhat surprisingly, is his creator, John le Carré.

Four years aft nan spy writer’s death astatine nan property of 89, comes a caller thriller, “Karla’s Choice.” Billed arsenic “a John le Carré novel,” it was written by Nick Harkaway, whose qualifications for nan occupation see 7 published novels, a life of reference le Carré — and nan truth he is nan precocious author’s son.

After decades avoiding his celebrated father’s shadow, for illustration Smiley trying to time off nan intelligence agency known arsenic nan Circus, he was drawn backmost in.

Le Carré near a statement asking his family, arsenic custodians of his estate, to thief his useful unrecorded connected and find caller readers. They took that arsenic support to constitute caller books. But Harkaway, who made his sanction pinch sci-fi thrillers including “The Gone-Away World,” “Angelmaker” and “Titanium Noir,” was apprehensive astir being nan 1 to do it.

“I would spell truthful acold arsenic to opportunity terrified,” said 51-year-old Harkaway, whose existent sanction is Nicholas Cornwell. Le Carré was nan pen sanction of his father, David Cornwell.

“It’s this portion of 20th-century lit that defines a genre and perchance a humanities period. This assemblage of activity is immense. And it’s my father’s universe,” he said. “There’s each logic for group to beryllium skeptical.”

Sitting successful his freely northbound London location — successful nan “very uncomfortable” penning chair that erstwhile belonged to his begetter – Harkaway has relaxed a spot now that nan book has been published (by Viking) to mostly glowing reviews. The Daily Telegraph said Harkaway’s “recreation of nan Smiley milieu is note-perfect,” while The Guardian declared nan caller “a treat.”

“Karla’s Choice” is group successful 1963, months aft nan extremity of le Carré’s breakthrough novel, “The Spy Who Came successful From nan Cold.” It opens pinch a hitman, dispatched by Moscow to assassinate a Hungarian patient successful London, having a last-minute situation of conscience.

A precocious retired Smiley is pulled successful for 1 past job. He’s assured it will beryllium short and simple. Famous past words.

The peril-filled saga that follows fleshes retired nan early narration betwixt Smiley and nan Soviet spymaster Karla, who becomes his nemesis successful later useful for illustration “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “Smiley’s People.”

Harkaway says that erstwhile he sewage complete his terror, capturing Smiley’s sound came easy — he had virtually grown up pinch it. Some of his earliest memories impact his begetter reference aloud draught pages of his useful successful progress.

“The formative infinitesimal successful my life wherever I was really learning to speak, was learning to usage language, I was getting 90 minutes aliases much of George Smiley successful my receptor each day,” he said. “And truthful erstwhile I came to beryllium down to do this, I recovered that I did not person to move nan dial very acold to find a sound that is perfectly my own, but which sounds to group arsenic being sufficiently of nan le Carré mood.”

That temper is often dark. Le Carré had been a real-life Cold War intelligence agent, and his thrillers are steeped successful nan civilized murk of nan spy world. But bespectacled, understated Smiley – antithesis of that different celebrated fictional spy, James Bond — offers decency and hope.

Harkaway sees Smiley arsenic “this compassionate, anonymous small everyman who tin move up and spot nan surgery pieces of life connected nan level and put them backmost together.”

There is simply a spot much joke successful “Karla’s Choice” than successful galore of his father’s books, and female characters, including Smiley's woman Ann, get much abstraction and voice.

“I had a flat-out ambition that nan Circus and nan Circus beingness should not conscionable beryllium elderly, consecutive achromatic men,” Harkaway said.

He acknowledges that women were often connected nan sidelines successful his father’s activity — a reflection of nan male-dominated era, and of a analyzable life. David Cornwell’s mother near erstwhile he was 5 years old, leaving him pinch his father, a charismatic conman. He didn’t spot her again until he was 21. As an big he had 2 agelong marriages — nan 2nd to Harkaway’s mother, Valerie Jane Eustace — and aggregate affairs.

“On a basal level for him, his relationships pinch women were astir absence and pain,” Harkaway said. “That sewage amended complete time. But erstwhile he was penning Smiley, that’s what came through. And that’s not my life.”

Harkaway says moving connected nan book didn’t bring “an Obi Wan Kenobi moment” successful which an apparition of his begetter appeared to connection penning advice. But he recovered nan acquisition “very moving.”

“Despite nan truth that it’s … somewhat a task that has condolences attached to it, it’s still a joyful process,” he said.

It seems inevitable that much le Carré thrillers will follow. Harkaway besides plans to proceed penning nether his ain sanction and successful his ain style, pinch a sequel to “Titanium Noir” owed to beryllium published successful April.

“Karla’s Choice” carries a double dedication: To David John Moore Cornwell, “father, husband, brother, son,” and to “John le Carré, novelist.”

“John le Carré was, among different things, a shield that my begetter created, because he was rather a awkward guy,” Harkaway said. “John le Carré was benignant of nan suit that he put connected to beryllium capable to do it all. And past David Cornwell was my dad. He was a unspeakable cook, he was a ping pong subordinate of tremendous aggression and flair … he was nan personification I lived with.

“I wanted pinch that dedication to convey them both. And besides conscionable to punctual everybody, he was an atrocious batch of things to a batch of people.”