‘Our Man in Havana’ and the inspiration for ‘Magical Disinformation’

Recently while trawling through some second-hand book shops I came across a nice selection of first edition hardback spy novels at very low prices (think the price of a cup of coffee). 

Spoils from a second-hand bookshop. Source: Lachlan Page ©

It got me thinking and then searching for a first edition of a book that I had always kept an eye out for, but had never been able to find. I already had a paperback version of this novel, but it was the first edition hardback that I really wanted. Which was tricky, as this book was first published in 1958 in the UK, and copies online (if you can find them) can be expensive. However, after searching high and low, I found a seller in Australia and at a good price (think same price as a hardback book in a bookshop). And so I snapped it up! A week later I was in possession of a first edition hardback of OUR MAN IN HAVANA by Graham Greene.

(I’m working on a blog post solely dedicated to this novel—coming soon! Check back later for details.)

First edition hardback of ‘Our Man in Havana’ by Graham Greene. Source: Lachlan Page ©

It might seem strange looking for a particular edition or copy of a book (just book geeks like me), especially one that I already have a copy of but it’s because, apart from it being my favourite novel, it is also the inspiration for my book, MAGICAL DISINFORMATION.

When coming up with the initial hook for MAGICAL DISINFORMATION, my thought process was something like: Graham Greene wrote OUR MAN IN HAVANA about an English vacuum cleaner salesman recruited as an agent (spy) that makes up false intelligence in Cuba. Then John le Carré—in homage to Graham Greene—wrote THE TAILOR OF PANAMA where an English tailor is recruited as an agent and invents false intelligence for money in Panama. My logical conclusion was that I should continue the trend (not that I’m comparing myself to those two giants of the literary world!), pay homage to those two greats, and then write a novel where a spy (well, an intelligence analyst, actually) fabricates and falsifies intelligence reports in Colombia. 

But that was just the beginning. I had to think of a motive. Money had already been done before (by both Greene and le Carré) and so I came up with the idea about a spy lying and concocting false intelligence reports to remain with his love interest. It, in some ways, mirrored what I’d experienced living in Colombia, where international couples were stuck deciding whether to be based in Colombia or their partner’s home country. Bogotá or Brisbane? Medellin or Manchester? Cali or Cali(fornia)? It often meant some expats would stay in Colombia and take on odd jobs in English teaching, online businesses, setting up backpacker hostels or bars and restaurants, tourism businesses, or whatever they could do to earn and remain in the country.  

From that initial idea, and with the basis of the story swirling in my mind, it was only then through actually writing it, that I was finally able to throw the story together, incorporating a range of strange, unbelievable, and often tragic Colombian news stories that occurred while I lived there. One such case I mention in the novel is that of former US President Barack Obama’s Secret Service agents being caught up in a prositution scandal before the big man was due at the Summit of the Americas in 2012. Or the sad and tragic case of a bombing at an Iranian restaurant in Bogotá in 2017. A restaurant I had eaten at several times, chatting with the friendly owner on various occasions. Then there were the cases of the head of an elite Anti-Kidnapping Unit being kidnapped himself, a Corruption Commissioner arrested on corruption charges, and an employee of the Truth Commission being investigated for lying about his qualifications. All of which made for prime pickings in telling a satirical spy tale set in Colombia.   

As I wrote I was also wary to stay away from tales of Narcos and Pablo Escobar, stereotypes and tropes that have been done to death. I really wanted to give an authentic feel to what Colombia is really like, dripping in cultural notes, idiosyncrasies, and the political situation in the country. The real Colombia, as much as I could see it, anyway.

There’s a lot more I could reveal and there are other tidbits of information that the keen Colombian observers, or Colombians themselves, will notice if they look deep enough between the pages. But I’m afraid to give too much away so I’ll leave it at that. You’ll just have to read the book and find out! ;)   

Since MAGICAL DISINFORMATION has been published I’ve been overwhelmed with the messages, emails, and comments from people around the world. Including former and current ambassadors that have lived or are living in Latin America, journalists and other writers interested in or living in the country, professors, US military personnel, other authors, old friends and travel buddies, and of course random readers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zeland, Korea, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and of course, Colombia.  

In fact, if you have read MAGICAL DISINFORMATION, I’d love it if you could leave an honest rating or review on Amazon, GoodReads, or wherever you leave book reviews. These reviews really help to get an author’s work out there.

So there we have it, that’s a little aboout how Graham Greene’s satricial spy novel, OUR MAN IN HAVANA, inspired my book, MAGICAL DISINFORMATION.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’ll have a post about OUR MAN IN HAVANA in more depth soon. Stay tuned! 

P.S. If this has piqued your interest, you can watch the book trailer for MAGICAL DISINFORAMATION — HERE