The Secret Pilgrim
First US edition cover
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| Author | John le Carré |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | R. D. Scudellari |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | George Smiley |
| Genre | Spy novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf (USA) & Hodder & Stoughton (UK) |
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Publication date
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January 1990 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 335 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 231273662 |
| 823/.914 20 | |
| LC Class | PR6062.E33 S43 1991 |
| Preceded by | The Russia House |
| Followed by | The Night Manager |
The Secret Pilgrim is a 1990 novel, set within the frame narrative of a series of lectures by John le Carré's George Smiley, famous only within the 'Circus'. The memoirs, narrated by Ned, a former Smiley protege, are, except for the last, triggered by tangential comments from the man himself in lectures given at Sarratt, the spy-training college which Ned runs. However, they are primarily accounts of Ned's own experiences rather than of Smiley's. Ned, who does not give his surname, represents himself as the head of the Russia House in The Russia House, disgraced by the defection of Barley Blair and hence condemned to a semi-retirement in charge of Sarratt. The Secret Pilgrim is effectively a collection of short stories, tied together as Ned's recollection. Many of them are recognisable anecdotes or urban legends within the British Intelligence community.
Within the first few pages the novel reveals the ending of The Russia House and the identity of the mole in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
George Smiley unexpectedly accepts an invitation from Ned to speak at the agent training school at Sarratt. As Smiley imparts his wisdom to a class of graduating Circus agents, Ned silently recalls memories of his own career.
Smiley reflects on the end of the Cold War, and makes a rueful joke that, in one way, the world has changed, but in another, it has always been the same and the secret services are gradually waking up from their own deluded perceptions of it, and themselves.
Having just graduated from Sarratt in 1965, Ned looks forward eagerly to his first overseas posting, and is disappointed to be kept in London, as part of a team surveilling a visiting Middle Eastern prince. Ned becomes alarmed when he sees a suspicious Arabic man following the prince's wife at a distance. In a Knightsbridge shopping mall, the man steps forward, reaching into his coat. Ned lunges forward, preparing to immobilise him with a martial arts blow, only for his own supervisor to grab him and hold him back. As Ned watches, he learns that the wife is a compulsive shoplifter, and the man is not a fanatic assassin, but rather assigned by the prince to pay compensation and hush money to the various stores she steals from.
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