Old Filth - Jane Gardam

A few posts back, the one for David Copperfield, I mentioned having seen a book reviewer in Chestertown.  Well, this same woman said that one of her favorite more recent books was one called The Man in the Wooden Hat.  I went to get it and discovered that it's a follow up to this book, Old Filth.  So I figured I'd start with this one.

It's the story of Teddy, or Eddie, or Sir Edward Feathers, or Old Filth...he answers to them all at one point or another.  Born in southeast Asia, sent at a young age back to mother England to be raised there away from everyone he knows, later to become a very well known and well respected lawyer in Hong Kong - this is his story.  From his childhood - well, from his birth, really - all the way through his death.  But not told chronologically...more thematically, I guess you could say.  Or episodically.  Which, to me, makes it all the more interesting.

I enjoyed this book - not just getting to know Old Filth and those around him, but for getting some glimpses into cultures and countries over the span of a lifetime.  I'm looking forward to reading The Man in the Wooden Hat, which I believe is a companion novel, really...told from the point of view of his wife.  I'll let you know after I read it.