Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

As an avid John Le Carre fan, having read the Spy who came in from the Cold, his latest novel The Constant Gardener, jumped off the shelf at me and begged to be bought! Eager to share his brilliance with the rest of the club I was quite pleased with my choice – oh how wrong could I be….

The Constant Gardener is based in Africa telling the tale of the local British diplomats. Our unlikely hero, Justin Quayle, has no more interest in British politics than I have and appears to be merely serving out his time, until his wife is murdered. Like all grieving husbands he takes matters into his own hands and launches an investigation which takes him into the murky underground of politics and exploitation.

Normally a book of this nature written by Le Carre, would be well thought out, meticulously planned and grippingly good. Unfortunately the author seems to have slipped into the modern day trap of meeting a deadline regardless of the quality of the book, if you do decide to read a John Le Carre novel pick anyone but this.

Naturally my knowledgeable fellow femmes all agree! 3/5

Score awarded by Bibliofemme: 2.4 out of 5

What the other femmes had to say
“Not Le Carre at his best. In fact, in ‘The Constant Gardener’ he’s probably at his worst. Avoid at all costs.” 2/5

“Rambling, poorly-structured. I’m told he does better elsewhere but will not be trying him again on the evidence of this.” 2/5

“Le Carre has a weighty literary reputation, but not on the basis of this book. Bland and overlong.” 2/5

“I thought the context for this story was greatly interesting however the work itself dragged and stagnated with the end welcomed for all the wrong reasons.” 2/5