John le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell, is an English author of espionage novels. Cornwell was born on 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England. From 1948 to 1949, he studied foreign languages at the University of Bern in Switzerland. In 1950, he joined the Intelligence Corps of the British Army garrisoned in Austria, working as a German language interrogator of people who crossed the Iron Curtain to the West. The Tailor of Panama is the author's 1996 novel. Harry Pendel is a half-Jewish, half-Irish Catholic orphan who takes the blame for his beloved Uncle Benny’s arson crime and goes to prison. Upon his release, Pendel goes to Panama to reinvent himself with a successful tailoring business, a loving wife, and two children. A bad business investment makes Pendel vulnerable to Andrew Osnard’s request that he spy on his customers, who include the nation’s leaders. The British are nervous about the United States turning over control of the Panama Canal and about possible Japanese influence on the future of international shipping. Pendel throws himself into the role of spy, taking fragments of truth and embroidering them into an opposition movement headed by his drunken friend Mickie Abraxas. Osnard is unaware of the deception until it is too late, just as Pendel and Osnard’s superiors do not realize the agent is stealing much of the money intended for Pendel’s supposed rebels… You can listen online to free English audiobook “The Tailor of Panama” by John le Carré on our website. Enjoy it!
