Jane Gardam's Old Filth (From Hereford Times)

Jane Gardam's Old Filth

1:53pm Thursday 13th January 2011 in Book Group

“NOTHING ever did go wrong for him,” says the Purveyor of Seals and Ordnances about Sir Edward Feathers – the Old Filth of the title of this month’s Hereford Times Book Group selection.

“Nothing much ever happened to him,” replies the Queen’s Remembrancer, “except success”.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth, as this beautifully written portrait of a man whose past is as complex and turbulent as his present is calm and ordered slowly reveals on its way to a shocking and profoundly moving climax.

Sleek with success and still magnificent in his old age, Old Filth – Failed In London, Try Hong (K)ong – is adjusting to widowhood following the death of his wife Betty, an event that has stirred up memories and drives him to seek out the two cousins he hasn’t seen for decades, but who, like him, had been Raj orphans, shipped home from the east to be educated in England.

Like a game of pass the parcel, the layers of Edward’s life are unwrapped, the truth behind the smooth facade revealed. From his mother’s death two days after his birth to his wartime experience as one of the soldiers guarding Queen Mary during her evacuation, from his abandonment by his father to his life-changing encounter with the wily Loss and on to the hard, bitter secret he holds most closely to his chest, Filth’s life proves time and again how misguided we can be when we make judgements on appearance alone.

This is a novel that eschews clever plot tricks and deceptions, gaining its powerful effect instead from detailed observation, deft characterisation and the laughable mix of the tragic and absurd that makes a life real.

About the author

Jane Gardam was born in 1928 and is the author of more than 25 books, including novels for children and adults.

Among the many prizes she has won are the David Higham, Winifred Holtby and Katherine Mansfield awards, The 1989 Prix Baudelaire, 1991 Whitbread Novel award, 1995 PEN/ Macmillan Silver Pen and the Heywood Hill award in 1999.

Her novel, God on the Rocks, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1975.

How to order

Old Filth (published at £7.99) offer price £6.99, post and packing free. To order, call the Hereford Times Bookshop on 08430 6000399 or send your cheque or postal order made payable to Hereford Times Bookshop to: Hereford Times Bookshop, PO Box 60, Helston TR13 0TP.

Allow seven to 10 working days for delivery. Titles are supplied subject to availability. Alternatively, order online at sparkledirect.com.