The Russia House

Book by John le Carré

The Russia House

First edition

Author| John le Carré
Language| English
Genre| Spy fiction
Publisher| Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date

| 1 June 1989
Publication place| United Kingdom
Media type| Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages| 384 (hardback edition)
ISBN| 0-340-50573-7 (hardback edition)
OCLC| 19271245
LC Class| PR6062.E33 L43 1989
Preceded by| A Perfect Spy
Followed by| The Secret Pilgrim

The Russia House is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré published in 1989. The title refers to the nickname given to the portion of the British Secret Intelligence Service that was devoted to spying on the Soviet Union. A film based on the novel was released in 1990 starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, and directed by Fred Schepisi. The BBC produced a radio play starring Tom Baker.

## Plot summary

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In 1987, Bartholomew "Barley" Scott Blair, a British publisher, is at a book fair in Moscow. With business friends he goes on a drunken retreat to a secluded dacha in the forest near Peredelkino. When their talk turns to politics, Barley finds himself talking boldly of patriotism and courage, of a new world order, and an end to Cold War tensions. One attentive listener, "Goethe", asks him privately whether he truly believes in the possibility of such a world. Barley convincingly says that he does.

Several months later in Moscow, a woman named Katya seeks Barley out at an audio fair, hoping to convince him to publish a manuscript for her friend Yakov which details Soviet nuclear capabilities and atomic secrets. The manuscript has a cover letter to Barley, saying that Yakov is trying to serve his country by hastening the day when democracy will come to the Soviet Union. Barley is in Lisbon. Katya gives the package to Niki Landau to forward it to Barley. When Landau is unable to locate Barley, the manuscript is sent to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Their Russia House is more than interested in it and ask Barley to contact Yakov with a list of verifying questions to determine the document's authenticity. Barley is content to stay out of the matter, but he is manipulated into undertaking the mission. He grows fond of Katya and begins thinking of a way to get her out of the Soviet Union.

Over the course of several meetings with Katya and Yakov, Barley realises his nervous informant is very likely under KGB scrutiny. The CIA and MI6 decide one final meeting is needed to verify the authenticity of the data, but Yakov is suddenly "hospitalized" due to purported exhaustion. In a secure phone call, Yakov tells Katya through code that he has been taken and that she is in danger. Barley and Katya realise that any further meeting is merely a KGB scheme to draw them out into the open.

Barley receives a message that he must bring "a final and exhaustive" list of questions on Soviet research. He makes contact with one of his Soviet publishing associates who uses his connections in the KGB to arrange a meeting with Yakov's handlers. Although the CIA and MI6 set up a major surveillance operation at the meeting site, Barley goes missing along with the last set of questions, presumably arrested.

More than a year later, after several unconfirmed sightings in Moscow, Barley shows up in Portugal, offering no explanation for his absence. Neither the CIA nor MI6 are inclined to interrogate him, reasoning that the KGB has already worn him down to get the information they needed. The truth, however, is that Barley traded the questions for the freedom of Katya and her family. The philosophical Barley reasons that governments are not the only ones who can manipulate and betray, and some things are more important than the games that spies play with others' lives.

## Main characters

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* Bartholomew "Barley" Scott Blair – protagonist, principal of a family-owned British publishing company
* Yekaterina "Katya" Borisovna Orlova – a young Soviet woman who works for a Moscow publishing house specialising in English language books
* Yakov Yefremovich Savelyev a.k.a. "Goethe" – a Soviet nuclear physicist who approaches "Barley" via Katya
* Horatio Benedict dePalfrey a.k.a. "Harry Palfrey" – lawyer in the Russia House

## Critical reception

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A contemporary review for Publishers Weekly said, "Le Carré's Russia is funny and touching by turns but always convincing, and the love affair between Barley and Katya, subtly understated, is by far the warmest the author has created. "[1] In a 1989 book review by Kirkus Reviews the anonymous reviewer called the book Le Carré's "drollest work thus far, his simplest plot by a long shot, and sturdy entertainment throughout—even if not in the same league with the Karla trilogy and other le Carré classics" and summarized; "Barley is a grand, Dickensian creation, the ugly Americans are a richly diverting crew, and this is witty, shapely tale-spinning from a modern master."[2] In a 1989 book review by The New York Times Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote "there remains a murky complexity to Mr. le Carré's prose that isn't justified by the somewhat simplistic inevitability of his plot. The love affair that ends up undermining Barley's patriotism seems forced in its detail and leaves a void of credibility at the heart of the story."[3]

## Film and audio adaptations

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A film based on the novel was released in 1990, starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, directed by Fred Schepisi. It was one of the first western films to be shot on location in the Soviet Union. Principal photography included scenes in and around Moscow and Leningrad (now St Petersburg).

The BBC produced a radio play of the novel adapted in seven episodes. It was broadcast in 1994 and starred Tom Baker as Barley Blair.

## References

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1. ^ "The Russia House". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
2. ^ "The Russia House". Kirkus Reviews. 9 June 1989. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
3. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (18 May 1989). "Books of The Times; Le Carre Takes Espionage Into the Age of Perestroika". New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.

## External links

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* The Russia House at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Works by John le Carré

Novels|

* Call for the Dead (1961)
* A Murder of Quality (1962)
* The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
* The Looking Glass War (1965)
* A Small Town in Germany (1968)
* The Naïve and Sentimental Lover (1971)
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974)
* The Honourable Schoolboy (1977)
* Smiley's People (1979)
* The Little Drummer Girl (1983)
* A Perfect Spy (1986)
* The Russia House (1989)
* The Secret Pilgrim (1990)
* The Night Manager (1993)
* Our Game (1995)
* The Tailor of Panama (1996)
* Single & Single (1999)
* The Constant Gardener (2001)
* Absolute Friends (2003)
* The Mission Song (2006)
* A Most Wanted Man (2008)
* Our Kind of Traitor (2010)
* A Delicate Truth (2013)
* A Legacy of Spies (2017)
* Agent Running in the Field (2019)
* Silverview (2021)

Films|

* The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)
* The Deadly Affair (1967)
* The Looking Glass War (1970)
* The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
* The Russia House (1990)
* The Tailor of Panama (2001)
* The Constant Gardener (2005)
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
* A Most Wanted Man (2014)
* Our Kind of Traitor (2016)

Television|

* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
* Smiley's People (1982)
* A Perfect Spy (1987)
* A Murder of Quality (1991)
* The Night Manager (2016)
* The Little Drummer Girl (2018)

Characters|

* Control
* Toby Esterhase
* Peter Guillam
* Bill Haydon
* Karla
* Jim Prideaux
* Connie Sachs
* George Smiley
* Gerald Westerby

Miscellaneous|

* The Incongruous Spy
* Smiley Versus Karla

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

|

*[OCLC]: Online Computer Library Center number
*[LC Class]: Library of Congress Classification
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