comment on structure

The novel is divided into 21 chapters, all of varying lengths of time. Some chapters, like chapter 13, take place over several weeks, while other chapters, like Chapter 6, describe no time passing at all, only Nat’s reflections. The novel takes place over the first six months of 2019 and Le Carré structures the events of the novel around real political events that took place during the year, such as Brexit, President Trump’s visit to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in June, and President Trump and Vladimir Putin’s joint press conference on July 16th to address the FBI’s findings of Russian government’s tampering with the U.S. presidential election.