The second Le Carre novel on the list, I’d enjoyed Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy so much that I went straight onto the Constant Gardener.
Set in the late ’90s in Africa,the story follows the lead character as he tries to find out why his wife was murdered. This takes in corporate greed, medical experimentation on Africa, and corruption in the British establishment.
The story carries you along, scenes are described so clearly, but at the same time the story unfolds rapidly. I love how complex the characters are, my opinions of them changed as the story progressed. With one character, I finished the novel with the opposite opinion of him as to what I started out with.
More than anything, there were points in the story that were quite heartbreaking and bewildering. To me, it seemed that it wasn’t any one person who was responsible, but rather a whole host of people doing the wrong thing with murder as the outcome.
I loved this book, and can’t wait to read more Le Carre novels. I haven’t picked my next book yet, but it’s exciting to know that it might open up another area of fiction like the Le Carre books have.
