Adam Sisman talk cancelled

We have had to cancel this talk by Adam Sisman about John le Carre which should have taken place on Tuesday 24th May - I am very sorry if you were intending to come along...

Adam Sisman discusses his life of John le Carre

This month our talk is by Adam Sisman who will discuss his recent biography of John le Carré in Woodstock Methodist Church on Tuesday 24 May at 7pm. Tickets £5 redeemable against a copy of the book, which means you can get the new paperback for only £5!

Advance booking essential from the bookshop 01993 812760 or info@woodstockbookshop.co.uk

Ultimately it's about love ... this is a very emotional book. John le Carre had an utterly heartbreaking childhood ... This is the best biography of 2015 - a rare achievement that invites rereading -- Edward Wilson, Independent

Here are a selection of the universally amazing reviews for the book which was shortlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography 2016 in the US:

Compendious and compelling...Sisman is excellent at the nuts and bolts of writing and of being published...it must be difficult to write the life of a man who is still very much with us, and in the public eye, no matter how much liberty the biographer has been given to tell the story, warts and all. Sisman - a very fine and astute biographer - has done an excellent, not to say exemplary, job under the circumstances ... it is impossible to imagine this Life being bettered -- William Boyd, New Statesman

This is the way to do it. Why this admirably balanced, patiently detailed biography of John le Carre is not on the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist beats me ... Sisman does full justice to [the] rawness at the heart of le Carre -- David Sexton, Evening Standard

The spy novelist's life is explored and explained with immaculate care and attention to detail Sunday Times

This book is testament to Sisman's skill and perseverance ... With his excellent grasp of the wider history, Sisman is good at anchoring Cornwell in this shadowy environment, as he guides his readers through the models for various characters ... Sisman brings admirable clarity to what could have been a meander in a wilderness of mirrors -- Andrew Lycett, Spectator

Cornwell has admitted that he can no longer separate many of the facts of his life from his lies and fictions. For Sisman this is like a red rag to a bull and you can feel the thrill of the chase throughout his terrific John le Carre, Independent

Sisman pulls it off: this is a well-written and highly readable book which is neither hagiography nor hatchet job ... Within that world he [John le Carre] conveys some of the truths of human nature, endeavour and fallibility. This is a real and rare achievement and in Adam Sisman he has a biographer worthy of it -- Alan Judd, Times Literary Supplement

Absorbing ... An insightful and highly readable portrait of a writer and a man who has often been classified as elusive and enigmatic as his fictional heroes -- Michiko Kakutani, New York Times