7.6 /10 1 Votes
Publication date January 4, 2001 ISBN 0-340-73337-3 Originally published 4 January 2001 Genre Thriller Publisher Hodder & Stoughton | 3.8/5 Goodreads Pages 557pp OCLC 59510670 Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Language English, German, Swahili Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback) Adaptations The Constant Gardener (2005) Similar John le Carré books, Thriller books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rachel weisz reads from john le carr s the constant gardener
The Constant Gardener is a 2001 novel by British author John le Carré. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the truth and finds an international conspiracy of corrupt bureaucracy and pharmaceutical money.
Contents
- Rachel weisz reads from john le carr s the constant gardener
- Book recommendation the constant gardener by john le carr
- Plot summary
- Film adaptation
- References
The plot was vaguely based on a real-life case in Kano, Nigeria. The book was later adapted into a feature film in 2005.
Book recommendation the constant gardener by john le carr
Plot summary
Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Nairobi, Kenya, is told that his activist wife, Tessa, was killed while travelling with a doctor friend in a desolate region of Africa. Investigating on his own, Quayle discovers that her murder, reportedly committed by her friend, may have had more sinister roots.
Justin learns that Tessa had uncovered a corporate scandal involving medical experimentation in Africa. KVH (Karel Vita Hudson), a large pharmaceutical company working under the cover of AIDS tests and treatments, is testing a tuberculosis drug that has severe side effects. Rather than help the trial subjects and begin again with a new drug, KVH covered up the side effects and improved the drug only in anticipation of a massive multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak.
Justin travels the world, often under assumed identities, to reconstruct the circumstances leading to Tessa's murder. As he begins to piece together Tessa's final report on the fraudulent drug tests, he learns that the roots of the conspiracy stretch further than he could have imagined; to a German pharmawatch NGO, an African aid station, and, most disturbingly to him, corrupt politicians in the British Foreign Office.
John le Carré writes in the book's afterword: "by comparison with the reality, my story [is] as tame as a holiday postcard". The book is dedicated to Yvette Pierpaoli, a French activist who died during the course of her aid work.
Film adaptation
In August of 2005, Focus Features released a film adaptation of The Constant Gardener directed by Fernando Meirelles, starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. The film grossed $33,565,375 in the US box office ($82,466,670 worldwide).