His novels are full of subterfuge and intrigue.
But far from being confined to the pages of his books, it seems that espionage was essential to John Le Carré as he pursued his private passions.
The late author led a double life involving vigorous adulterous sex up to four times a day, his self-proclaimed lover has said.
According to the alleged mistress, who has not revealed her true identity, Le Carré used spook techniques straight from his books – and his years in MI5 and MI6 – to keep their affair a secret from his long-suffering wife.
Far from being confined to the pages of his books, it seems the art of espionage was essential to John Le Carré as he pursued his private passions
The woman – who calls herself Suleika Dawson and is believed to be 25 years younger than the author – discusses their alleged sexual encounters in London, Lesbos, Elba and Zurich in lurid detail in a forthcoming book.
Le Carré, whose real name was David Cornwell and whose books included Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and The Night Manager – died of pneumonia aged 89 two years ago.
Miss Dawson posing for a picture The times yesterday, while keeping her real name a secret, the newspaper said their affair began when she met him after she was hired to abridge his spy novel Smiley’s People into an audiobook that he read.
When he was 50, he lunged at her and kissed her unbidden in Piccadilly Circus, she claimed.
Le Carré, whose real name was David Cornwell, wrote The Night Manager, which was adapted for television. Pictured: Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Debicki in a steamy scene from the BBC adaptation
When the reporter noted that today this would count as sexual harassment, Miss Dawson said: ‘Oh, he’d be up there with [disgraced Hollywood mogul] Harvey Weinstein, I’m sure.
‘I mean, no, he wouldn’t be up there with Harvey Weinstein, but he would have been pilloried in the #MeToo movement, let’s put it that way. It must be very boring to be young today.’
She told the paper that their first meeting in the bedroom came the following year after he had his wife Jane call and ask her to adapt his novel The Little Drummer Girl to audio, simply so he would have an excuse for her number appearing on bills.
Le Carré, pictured here (right) at the UK premiere of the film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth, died of pneumonia aged 89 two years ago
When the affair started after a sumptuous restaurant meal, it was with ‘sex that only the hero and heroine can have – sex for the cameras, sex for the gods’.
Miss Dawson claimed she used ice cubes on his private parts in love games, and said his ‘recovery ability’ was ‘wonderful’ even when he was past retirement age, enabling them to have sex ‘three or four times a day.
She added with a smile: ‘He was absolutely legendary.’
During a second and final phase of the affair, when the author was approaching 70, the pair would still enjoy ‘five hours of extraordinarily intense sex’, it is claimed.
Le Carré was married twice, first to Alison Sharp, until an affair with Jane Cornwell at his publishing house Hodder and Stoughton led to his marrying her in 1972.
He and Jane lived together in Hampstead, north London, and Cornwall until his death in 2020. Jane died early last year.
Le Carré and Miss Dawson first met in 1982 and their affair only raged for two years from the following summer, she claims in her book The Secret Heart, out in a fortnight.
Le Carré was married twice, first to Alison Sharp, until an affair with Jane Cornwell at his publishing house Hodder and Stoughton led to his marrying her in 1972
He showered her with gifts such as jewels, flowers, chocolates, caviar and champagne, but sex was central.
Miss Dawson claimed he constantly acted as if they were in danger of being discovered. While together on Lesbos, he asked for directions to the beach – and after pretending to go there, he went in the opposite direction.
Their romantic weekends were initially paid for by a ‘reptile fund’ – as used by spies – with untraceable money. Le Carré also mistakenly wrote her address as being in NW3 in his contact book when it was actually SW3. “The deception and the hiding and the cover-up, going for cover and living undercover, was a significant part of it,” Miss Dawson said.
She claimed she ended their first affair after his gift of a bedroom mirror made her feel like a ‘look-glashore’.
Suleika Dawson admits to many other affairs but claimed to have been the ‘love of his life’
The second phase of their affair was for another six months in 1999 after she attended a lecture he gave. He spotted her in the crowd and their intense romp started again, she said.
It ended abruptly after Le Carré himself tried to get her to book a dirty weekend on Elba and sent cash, she claimed. She said it made her feel like she was being paid for sex.
Miss Dawson admits to many other affairs but claimed to have been ‘the love of his life’.
Le Carré’s bereaved family have only said of the new book that they wish its author ‘all the best’.