The Secret Pilgrim is likely to generate rip-roaring discussions: some readers are likely to be outraged by the novel, others are likely to be dismayed, disappointed, encouraged, excited, or made meditative. The novel is a powerful study of the effects deception has on the human spirit, and it suggests that people need certainties in their lives — that they need truths. Exactly what these truths may be could be a good topic for discussion. The one-time spy whose daughter becomes a prostitute offers a challenging interpretation of what is good for individual people and a hard-edged look at what wounded spirits must do to find meaning in their lives. Throughout the novel, le Carre invites close examination of what motivates people who lie for their living and of the implications for societies that encourage lying and subterfuge. In The Secret Pilgrim, individual lives matter, and the...