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.

This article is about the novel. For the film, see The Constant Gardener (film). For the trust, see Constant Gardener Trust.
The Constant Gardener
First UK edition cover
AuthorJohn le Carré
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish, German, Swahili
PublisherHodder & Stoughton
Publication date
January 4, 2001
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages557pp
ISBN0-340-73337-3
OCLC59510670
Preceded bySingle & Single 
Followed byAbsolute Friends 

The plot was based on a real-life case in Kano, Nigeria. The book was later adapted into a feature film in 2005.

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 himself, 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".[1] The book is dedicated to Yvette Pierpaoli, a French activist who died during the course of her aid work.[2]

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.[3]

Footnotes
  1. le Carré, John (2005). The Constant Gardener. Pocket Star. Afterword. ISBN 1-4165-0390-0.
  2. Honan, William H. (April 20, 1999). "Yvette Pierpaoli, 60, Aid Worker Who Devoted Life to Refugees". The New York Times.
  3. "The Constant Gardener | Culture | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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