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Guests | October 15, 2009

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Old Filth

by Jane Gardam

Old Filth Cover

Awards

2005 Orange Prize nominee

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Sir Edward Feathers has progressed from struggling young barrister to wealthy expatriate lawyer to distinguished retired judge living out his last days in comfortable seclusion in Dorset. The engrossing and moving account his life, from birth in colonial Malaya, to Wales, where he is sent as a "Raj orphan," to Oxford, his career and marriage, encapsulates a large part of the 20th century.

Review:

"British novelist Gardam has twice won the Whitbread and was shortlisted for the Man Booker. This, her 15th novel, was shortlisted in Britain for the Orange Prize; it outlines 20th-century British history through the life of Sir Edward Feathers, a barrister whose acronymic nickname provides the title: 'Failed in London, Try Hong Kong.' At nearly 80, Feathers, retired in Dorset after many years as a respected Hong Kong judge, is a hollow man with few real friends and a cold, sexless marriage that has just ended with the death of his wife, Betty. For the first time, 'Filth' (as even Betty called him) delves into the past that produced him: a 'Raj orphan' raised by a series of surrogates while his father worked in Singapore, Filth served briefly in WWII (guarding the Queen) and had a lackluster stint as a London barrister before emigrating. The flashbacks contrast British privilege and the chaos that ensues when the empire (especially Filth's childhood Malaya), starts to crumble. As Filth undertakes chaotic visits to his Welsh foster home and other sites, Gardam's sharp, acerbic style counterpoints Feathers's dryness. Well-rounded secondary figures further highlight his emptiness and that of empire. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"The inspiration for this remarkable novel is Rudyard Kipling — 'Torn from his family at five. Raj Orphan. ... Hated the Empire, you know.' — but the novel itself is all Jane Gardam. Now in her late seventies, Gardam is best known in this country for 'The Queen of the Tambourine,' which won the Whitbread novel award a decade and a half ago, but she has yet to find an American readership comparable... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review)

Review:

"Gardam's prose is so economical that no moment she describes is either gratuitous or wasted." New Yorker

Review:

"This is the rare novel that drives its readers forward while persistently waylaying and detaining by the sheer beauty and inventiveness of it style." The Guardian

Review:

"Both witty and poignant, this work is more than a character study; through her protagonist, Gardam offers a view of the last days of empire as seen from post-9/11 Britain." Library Journal

Review:

"One of the finest achievements of this greatly talented British author." Kirkus Reviews

Synopsis:

"Jane Gardam's beautiful, vivid and defiantly funny novel is a must."The Times

"Gardam's superb new novel is surely her masterpiece . . . one of the most moving fictions I have read in years . . . This is the rare novel that drives its readers forward while persistently waylaying and detaining by the sheer beauty and inventiveness of it style."The Guardian

"The Whitbread winner scores again with a compelling novel based, in part, on the early life of Rudyard Kipling."Time Out

Sir Edward Feathers has progressed from struggling young barrister to wealthy expatriate lawyer to distinguished retired judge, living out his last days in comfortable seclusion in Dorset. The engrossing and moving account of his life, from birth in colonial Malaya, to Wales, where he is sent as a "Raj orphan,"to Oxford, his career and marriage, parallels much of the 20th century's torrid and twisted history.

Old Filthwas nominated for the 2005 Orange Prize.

Jane Gardamlives with her husband and three children in England. She has won Katherine Mansfield Award, the PEN Macmillan Silver Pen Award, the Whitbread Novel Award (twice), and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She was recently awarded the Heywood Hill Literary Prize in recognition of a distinguished literary career.

Synopsis:

Filth is a lawyer with a practice in the Far East. A few remember that his nickname stands for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. But Old Filth is not as pompous as people imagine, and his past contains many secrets and dark hiding places.

About the Author

Jane Gardam lives with her husband and three children in England.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
salliforth, October 20, 2009 (view all comments by salliforth)
My book group read this book, and the majority of us loved it. We had a great discussion, and at the end we all agreed that we not only enjoyed the story and writing, we were very impressed with the quality and design of the book itself (something we usually don't comment on). The tale is told through the parsing of bits of information from different perspectives and various times. It intrigues, informs and puzzles - an inventive and effective structure. As a result of our reading this book, we will be reading Kipling's "Kim" soon.
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Bookwomyn, June 25, 2007 (view all comments by Bookwomyn)
What a wonderful book . . . intelligent, compelling story of an old lawyer mulling over his life and memories. It's funny and sad. Filth stands for "Failed in London, Try Hong Kong." Gardam is a unique author and she's done a bang-up job on this book.
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(10 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781933372136
Author:
Gardam, Jane
Publisher:
Europa Editions
Subject:
General
Subject:
England
Subject:
Asians
Subject:
General Fiction
Publication Date:
June 2006
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
289
Dimensions:
8.26x5.40x.89 in. .83 lbs.

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