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The New York Times called Sir Edward Feathers one of the most memorable characters in modern literature. A lyrical novel that recalls his fully lived life, Old Filth has been acclaimed as Jane Gardam's masterpiece, a book where life and art merge. And now that beautiful, haunting novel has been joined by a companion that also bursts with humor and wisdom: The Man in the Wooden Hat. Old Filth was Eddie's story. The Man in the Wooden Hat is the history of his marriage told from the perspective of his wife, Betty, a character as vivid and enchanting as Filth himself. They met in Hong Kong after the war. Betty had spent the duration in a Japanese internment camp. Filth was already a successful barrister, handsome, fast becoming rich, in need of a wife but unaccustomed to romance. A perfect English couple of the late 1940s. As a portrait of a marriage, with all the bittersweet secrets and surprising fulfillment of the 50-year union of two remarkable people, the novel is a triumph. The Man in the Wooden Hat is fiction of a very high order from a great novelist working at the pinnacle of her considerable power. It will be read and loved and recommended by all the many thousands of readers who found its predecessor, Old Filth, so compelling and so thoroughly satisfying. Tells the story of the fifty-year marriage of barrister Filth and his wife Betty, which is filled with secrets and hidden desires.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member John
This is an interesting concept: rewriting an earlier book from the point of view of a different character. In this case, Gardam’s earlier, excellent, Old Filth, traced the life and times of Sir Edward Feathers who made a fortune and a reputation in law in Hong Kong; the novel also traces his
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marriage to Betty, a marriage fraught with the fact that Eddie was not a communicative, emotional man and Gardam takes us into Eddie’s past to understand better his present. The Man in the Wooden Hat tells the same story from the point of view of Betty, and together, the novels comprise an interesting look at the marriage of two people, of the baggage that each brings to their lives and their marriage, of the hopes not always expressed, of the adjustments to hopes and lives that are made through years of living together, of developing or supporting careers, of passion known but lost and grieved for ever afterwards. Interesting, and worth reading, but I enjoyed Old Filth much more, perhaps because Gardam developed Eddie as a more fully-rounded character and I found myself caring more for and about him. Show Less
LibraryThing member cameling
After the charming delight of Old Filth, this was rather a disappointment. Elizabeth Feathers does not enchant, does not endear herself to the reader and remains a rather 2-dimensional figure.
At times, I found the writing rather forced, as if the author were trying very hard to convince the reader
At times, I found the writing rather forced, as if the author were trying very hard to convince the reader
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that this rather spoilt young woman deserves to be embraced wholeheartedly, that she's just misunderstood rather than just a woman behaving badly. Show Less
LibraryThing member hazelk
I love the way Jane Gardam knows what to include and what to leave out and how the surprises in the narrative come over as natural rather than props to make the story more interesting.
Somehow Betty's actions and inactions seem perfectly comprehensible whereas for some writers the putting on of a
The last chapter's revelations were a surprise but Old Filth was never ever such a boring old f..t as his colleagues often thought.
A good read indeed.
Somehow Betty's actions and inactions seem perfectly comprehensible whereas for some writers the putting on of a
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green silk dress to the events in the remote tree house some hours later, just as an example, surprise but then appear quite natural and we accept non-judgmentally.The last chapter's revelations were a surprise but Old Filth was never ever such a boring old f..t as his colleagues often thought.
A good read indeed.
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LibraryThing member jnwelch
The Man in the Wooden Hat is Jane Gardam's second novel involving the upright and seemingly stodgy Sir Edward Feathers. He is a lawyer and then judge known as Filth, the nickname derived from "Failed In London, Try Hong Kong". In the first novel, Old Filth, he was introduced as a lonely widower
Gardam is particularly good at letting us see the inner workings of outwardly convention-observing characters, as they struggle with inner yearnings versus the desire to be moral and respectable, and successful in the eyes of others. When, shortly after Filth's proposal, Betty runs into Terry Veneering, Filth's rival, she wishes the proposal had come an hour later. That attraction will have have long lasting effects for all of them.
The steamy Hong Kong and austere English countryside atmospheres are vividly portrayed, and there are revelations around every corner, including a corker at the end. Betty evolves from a clever but unworldly youngster with "unpainted, sandy toenails" to a decisive ruler of her realm. What a feat for Gardam to so engagingly tell the story from two different perspectives in two different novels. A third novel, Last Friends, will tell the story from the POV of Filth's rival Veneering. Reading high quality writing always feels good, and like the first novel, this one is cleverly conceived and affecting, as you find out more about all three protagonists. Four stars, and it may well deserve more.
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residing in western England, looking back on his days of wealth and fame in Hong Kong. This one tells the story from the perspective of his beloved wife Betty, starting with her saying yes to his proposal in a Hong Kong hotel.Gardam is particularly good at letting us see the inner workings of outwardly convention-observing characters, as they struggle with inner yearnings versus the desire to be moral and respectable, and successful in the eyes of others. When, shortly after Filth's proposal, Betty runs into Terry Veneering, Filth's rival, she wishes the proposal had come an hour later. That attraction will have have long lasting effects for all of them.
The steamy Hong Kong and austere English countryside atmospheres are vividly portrayed, and there are revelations around every corner, including a corker at the end. Betty evolves from a clever but unworldly youngster with "unpainted, sandy toenails" to a decisive ruler of her realm. What a feat for Gardam to so engagingly tell the story from two different perspectives in two different novels. A third novel, Last Friends, will tell the story from the POV of Filth's rival Veneering. Reading high quality writing always feels good, and like the first novel, this one is cleverly conceived and affecting, as you find out more about all three protagonists. Four stars, and it may well deserve more.
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LibraryThing member katiekrug
I loved this book just as much as I did Old Filth. This is mostly Betty's story, and just like Filth's, it is a bittersweet, funny, and moving story of an individual in search of herself. As a portrait of love and marriage, with all the attendant flaws and misunderstandings and missed
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opportunities, it is spot on and told with warmth and humor. A very wise and wonderful novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member maelinor
I have always been a great fan of Jane Gardam's writing going back to the Days of Bilgewater ( which I heartily recommend) and I have just finished reading Man in a Wooden Hat for the second time as it was my book club's choice for the month. I found it a rather good novel complimenting the
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previous Old Filth and short story, The People on Privilege Hill and it saddens me to read that camelling was disappointed with this it but we can't all like the same writing as then we would have nothing to discuss! Reading it for the second time made me go back to reading the other books as well as I found it was like going back to visit old friends and I truly enjoyed the visit. Each stands on it's own merit of course but read together they give a greater understanding of the real character of Ms Gardam's creations. Show Less
LibraryThing member timtom
This companion novel to "Old Filth" relates the couple's marriage from the spouse's point of view: here, the story is told by Betty, Filth's wife. While the text still vibrates from Gardam's extraordinary prose and remains throughly enjoyable, I was nevertheless a little bit disappointed and found
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Betty less interesting than her husband. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cariola
Another lovely installment in the Old Filth trilogy, this one told from the point of view of Betty Macintosh Feathers, Old Filth's wife. Like Edward Feathers, Betty was raised in the far eastern parts of the British commonwealth, and she, too, had lost her parents at a young age. She understands
This is the same story we heard in Old Filth, at least from the time that Betty meets Edward Feathers, but here we get her perspective. It's quite intriguing to see how Eddie's interpretation of events differs from the reality that Betty reveals, and to learn of secrets that apparently were never revealed. Like so many women of her day, Betty focused on fulfilling her wifely duties and appeared to lead a rather dull life focused on her tulips, dinner parties, and her husband's career. Gardam lets us see, however, that she has a vibrant inner life, full of secret memories, dreams, and loves. Her relationship with Harry, the Veneerings' young son, is one such secret. Unable to bear children, Betty becomes attached to Harry, a charming and clever boy whom Filth later says is "the only one she ever really loved."
The Man in the Wooden Hat serves as a reminder that even ordinary lives can be extraordinary.
I'm looking forward to the last book in the Old Filth series and will be seeking out more novels by Jane Gardam, whose writing is beautiful, original, amusing, and moving.
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his loneliness and the pleas that comes with his proposal: "Don't ever leave me." Yet almost as soon as she accepts, Betty has regrets--particularly when she meets Eddie's arch rival, Terry Veneering. But a promise is a promise . . . This is the same story we heard in Old Filth, at least from the time that Betty meets Edward Feathers, but here we get her perspective. It's quite intriguing to see how Eddie's interpretation of events differs from the reality that Betty reveals, and to learn of secrets that apparently were never revealed. Like so many women of her day, Betty focused on fulfilling her wifely duties and appeared to lead a rather dull life focused on her tulips, dinner parties, and her husband's career. Gardam lets us see, however, that she has a vibrant inner life, full of secret memories, dreams, and loves. Her relationship with Harry, the Veneerings' young son, is one such secret. Unable to bear children, Betty becomes attached to Harry, a charming and clever boy whom Filth later says is "the only one she ever really loved."
The Man in the Wooden Hat serves as a reminder that even ordinary lives can be extraordinary.
I'm looking forward to the last book in the Old Filth series and will be seeking out more novels by Jane Gardam, whose writing is beautiful, original, amusing, and moving.
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LibraryThing member Y2Ash
The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's, Old Filth's wife, point of view. It depicts a young Betty becoming engaged via letter to Edward Feathers a.k.a Old Filth. However, while accompanying him to a party she lays eyes on Terry Veneering, Filth's long time adversary, and is smitten. That
Except that she does but still holds a torch for Veneering as he does her. After suffering a miscarriage, she becomes even more attached to Veneering's son, Harry. She visits him when it looks like one of his legs might be amputated and gives him a significant amount of money for his gambling debts. Harry is a surrogate son for Betty.
Naturally, she is understandably crushed when he is killed in the line of duty. Once again, she resolves to leave Filth once and for all...except she doesn't and channels all of her energy into gardening and decides to bury her "guilty pearls" from Veneering into her garden. Betty finally declares it's too late to leave him and dies. After that it's a quick summary of the events of Old Filth's sort of aging friendship with Veneering until the latter dies. Filth follows him some time after that.
I know The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's point of view but I never really got the sense of Betty unlike Old Filth did with the titular character. She wasn't as sexually repressed as Old Filth was but she was as emotionally repressed with people her own age. That yearning for children of her own helped her establish a relationship with Harry.
With the exception of her miscarriage, my heart never really went out for Betty. In fact, I felt bad for Filth even more because Betty was such a bitch to him at times. He had abandonment issues and she had some issue that made her more fickle than the weather.
I tried really hard to like her and I once did in the first book despite the cheating but now I pretty much can't stand her and said good riddance once she perished. Despite my misgivings, I thought the book was well written by Gardam.
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same night they have relations with Betty vowing she won't get married to Filth.Except that she does but still holds a torch for Veneering as he does her. After suffering a miscarriage, she becomes even more attached to Veneering's son, Harry. She visits him when it looks like one of his legs might be amputated and gives him a significant amount of money for his gambling debts. Harry is a surrogate son for Betty.
Naturally, she is understandably crushed when he is killed in the line of duty. Once again, she resolves to leave Filth once and for all...except she doesn't and channels all of her energy into gardening and decides to bury her "guilty pearls" from Veneering into her garden. Betty finally declares it's too late to leave him and dies. After that it's a quick summary of the events of Old Filth's sort of aging friendship with Veneering until the latter dies. Filth follows him some time after that.
I know The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's point of view but I never really got the sense of Betty unlike Old Filth did with the titular character. She wasn't as sexually repressed as Old Filth was but she was as emotionally repressed with people her own age. That yearning for children of her own helped her establish a relationship with Harry.
With the exception of her miscarriage, my heart never really went out for Betty. In fact, I felt bad for Filth even more because Betty was such a bitch to him at times. He had abandonment issues and she had some issue that made her more fickle than the weather.
I tried really hard to like her and I once did in the first book despite the cheating but now I pretty much can't stand her and said good riddance once she perished. Despite my misgivings, I thought the book was well written by Gardam.
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LibraryThing member Y2Ash
The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's, Old Filth's wife, point of view. It depicts a young Betty becoming engaged via letter to Edward Feathers a.k.a Old Filth. However, while accompanying him to a party she lays eyes on Terry Veneering, Filth's long time adversary, and is smitten. That
Except that she does but still holds a torch for Veneering as he does her. After suffering a miscarriage, she becomes even more attached to Veneering's son, Harry. She visits him when it looks like one of his legs might be amputated and gives him a significant amount of money for his gambling debts. Harry is a surrogate son for Betty.
Naturally, she is understandably crushed when he is killed in the line of duty. Once again, she resolves to leave Filth once and for all...except she doesn't and channels all of her energy into gardening and decides to bury her "guilty pearls" from Veneering into her garden. Betty finally declares it's too late to leave him and dies. After that it's a quick summary of the events of Old Filth's sort of aging friendship with Veneering until the latter dies. Filth follows him some time after that.
I know The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's point of view but I never really got the sense of Betty unlike Old Filth did with the titular character. She wasn't as sexually repressed as Old Filth was but she was as emotionally repressed with people her own age. That yearning for children of her own helped her establish a relationship with Harry.
With the exception of her miscarriage, my heart never really went out for Betty. In fact, I felt bad for Filth even more because Betty was such a bitch to him at times. He had abandonment issues and she had some issue that made her more fickle than the weather.
I tried really hard to like her and I once did in the first book despite the cheating but now I pretty much can't stand her and said good riddance once she perished. Despite my misgivings, I thought the book was well written by Gardam.
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same night they have relations with Betty vowing she won't get married to Filth.Except that she does but still holds a torch for Veneering as he does her. After suffering a miscarriage, she becomes even more attached to Veneering's son, Harry. She visits him when it looks like one of his legs might be amputated and gives him a significant amount of money for his gambling debts. Harry is a surrogate son for Betty.
Naturally, she is understandably crushed when he is killed in the line of duty. Once again, she resolves to leave Filth once and for all...except she doesn't and channels all of her energy into gardening and decides to bury her "guilty pearls" from Veneering into her garden. Betty finally declares it's too late to leave him and dies. After that it's a quick summary of the events of Old Filth's sort of aging friendship with Veneering until the latter dies. Filth follows him some time after that.
I know The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's point of view but I never really got the sense of Betty unlike Old Filth did with the titular character. She wasn't as sexually repressed as Old Filth was but she was as emotionally repressed with people her own age. That yearning for children of her own helped her establish a relationship with Harry.
With the exception of her miscarriage, my heart never really went out for Betty. In fact, I felt bad for Filth even more because Betty was such a bitch to him at times. He had abandonment issues and she had some issue that made her more fickle than the weather.
I tried really hard to like her and I once did in the first book despite the cheating but now I pretty much can't stand her and said good riddance once she perished. Despite my misgivings, I thought the book was well written by Gardam.
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LibraryThing member Y2Ash
The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's, Old Filth's wife, point of view. It depicts a young Betty becoming engaged via letter to Edward Feathers a.k.a Old Filth. However, while accompanying him to a party she lays eyes on Terry Veneering, Filth's long time adversary, and is smitten. That
Except that she does but still holds a torch for Veneering as he does her. After suffering a miscarriage, she becomes even more attached to Veneering's son, Harry. She visits him when it looks like one of his legs might be amputated and gives him a significant amount of money for his gambling debts. Harry is a surrogate son for Betty.
Naturally, she is understandably crushed when he is killed in the line of duty. Once again, she resolves to leave Filth once and for all...except she doesn't and channels all of her energy into gardening and decides to bury her "guilty pearls" from Veneering into her garden. Betty finally declares it's too late to leave him and dies. After that it's a quick summary of the events of Old Filth's sort of aging friendship with Veneering until the latter dies. Filth follows him some time after that.
I know The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's point of view but I never really got the sense of Betty unlike Old Filth did with the titular character. She wasn't as sexually repressed as Old Filth was but she was as emotionally repressed with people her own age. That yearning for children of her own helped her establish a relationship with Harry.
With the exception of her miscarriage, my heart never really went out for Betty. In fact, I felt bad for Filth even more because Betty was such a bitch to him at times. He had abandonment issues and she had some issue that made her more fickle than the weather.
I tried really hard to like her and I once did in the first book despite the cheating but now I pretty much can't stand her and said good riddance once she perished. Despite my misgivings, I thought the book was well written by Gardam.
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same night they have relations with Betty vowing she won't get married to Filth.Except that she does but still holds a torch for Veneering as he does her. After suffering a miscarriage, she becomes even more attached to Veneering's son, Harry. She visits him when it looks like one of his legs might be amputated and gives him a significant amount of money for his gambling debts. Harry is a surrogate son for Betty.
Naturally, she is understandably crushed when he is killed in the line of duty. Once again, she resolves to leave Filth once and for all...except she doesn't and channels all of her energy into gardening and decides to bury her "guilty pearls" from Veneering into her garden. Betty finally declares it's too late to leave him and dies. After that it's a quick summary of the events of Old Filth's sort of aging friendship with Veneering until the latter dies. Filth follows him some time after that.
I know The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from Betty's point of view but I never really got the sense of Betty unlike Old Filth did with the titular character. She wasn't as sexually repressed as Old Filth was but she was as emotionally repressed with people her own age. That yearning for children of her own helped her establish a relationship with Harry.
With the exception of her miscarriage, my heart never really went out for Betty. In fact, I felt bad for Filth even more because Betty was such a bitch to him at times. He had abandonment issues and she had some issue that made her more fickle than the weather.
I tried really hard to like her and I once did in the first book despite the cheating but now I pretty much can't stand her and said good riddance once she perished. Despite my misgivings, I thought the book was well written by Gardam.
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LibraryThing member sianpr
Excellent story telling. Enjoyed this more than Old Filth.
LibraryThing member ritaer
A rather curious novel about the marriage of an English barrister in Hong Kong.
LibraryThing member CarltonC
A wonderful novel made even brighter by being a brilliant complement and sequel to Old Filth.
Jane Gardam's prose is perfectly chosen and her style reads so simply and succinctly. Yet she manages to pack in such a story through glimpses into a life, almost a series of connected novellas.
The story is
Through this, we learn of the stifled life of the last of the professional British ruling class in Hong Kong, but much more, we learn of the emotional turning points in Betty Feathers' life.
A wonderful read, with some satisfying twists at the end that do not change what has gone before, but throw further light on it.
Jane Gardam's prose is perfectly chosen and her style reads so simply and succinctly. Yet she manages to pack in such a story through glimpses into a life, almost a series of connected novellas.
The story is
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of Elizabeth (Betty) Feathers (nee Mackintosh) - her engagement and marriage to Edward (Eddie) Feathers (whose story has been told in Old Filth and the The People on Privilege Hill). A life spent as support to her husband, as he works hard and prospers at the Bar, although we have glimpses of her life and friends before this. We also share meet the brief passion of her life, Terry Veneering, and her love for his son, Harry Veneering. Through this, we learn of the stifled life of the last of the professional British ruling class in Hong Kong, but much more, we learn of the emotional turning points in Betty Feathers' life.
A wonderful read, with some satisfying twists at the end that do not change what has gone before, but throw further light on it.
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LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
"The Man in the Wooden Hat" is less a retelling of Gardam's terrific "Old Filth" than a complement to it. While it's narrated by Edward Feathers's wife, Betty, he's still very much the focal point of this story, a compelling, enigmatic, oddly charismatic figure. Those who enjoyed "Old Filth" can
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expect more of the wonderful same. There's Gardam's startlingly lucid prose, her elegant insights in to her characters' emotional lives, and a slowly developing disquisition of what it means to grow up as a permanent expatriate in a dying Empire. Gardam fans shouldn't expect any major revelations here, though I hardly think they'll mind. The author seems to use Betty's side of this twice-told tale to describe how the effects hastily made decisions can play out over the space of an entire lifetime and how passions felt in one's youth can linger into one's retirement years. Recommended, though readers new to Betty and Edward should certainly start with "Old Filth." Show Less
LibraryThing member pgchuis
The second in the series, with the perspective mostly that of Edward's wife Betty. I liked this more than the first novel, and there were various revelations about Betty's relationship with Veneering, which filled in things I had been wondering about. Also a couple of shock revelations about
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Edward. Looking forward to the third. Show Less
LibraryThing member RandyMetcalfe
Often described as the ‘companion’ novel to Gardam’s Old Filth, The Man in the Wooden Hat covers much the same ground but focuses instead on Sir Edward Feather’s wife, Betty. Not exclusively, and not in the way in which Old Filth tells the tale of Sir Edward from earliest boyhood through
Despite the reservation noted above, I think Gardam’s writing is wonderfully spare, elegant, and multi-layered. Betty may be an illusive character, but she is nonetheless fascinating. And she establishes a marked contrast to the other ex-pat women in Hong Kong, both with her opinions, her local knowledge, and her unblinking recognition of the essential untenuousness of British Rule in these colonies.
If you’ve read Gardam’s initially offering on these characters, then you’ll need no further inducement to renew acquaintances and carry on. Gently recommended.
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his traumatic youth to his formative years prior to his career in law. Rather, we catch up with Betty on the verge of her engagement to Eddie. And this forces a disparity between the two characters. For Sir Edward, the reader (of both volumes) has a reasonable grasp from the start of his troubled inner life and this underwrites our sympathy for him both in his youth and his later life. With Betty this is simply not the case. And so a number of her positive actions seem virtually inexplicable, as least to me.Despite the reservation noted above, I think Gardam’s writing is wonderfully spare, elegant, and multi-layered. Betty may be an illusive character, but she is nonetheless fascinating. And she establishes a marked contrast to the other ex-pat women in Hong Kong, both with her opinions, her local knowledge, and her unblinking recognition of the essential untenuousness of British Rule in these colonies.
If you’ve read Gardam’s initially offering on these characters, then you’ll need no further inducement to renew acquaintances and carry on. Gently recommended.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Wonderful British story of a decades-long marriage. A companion to the earlier work "Old Filth," but this time told from wife Betty's point of view. I've not read the earlier work, so I don't know if I would still have been surprised by some of the revelations in this book.
LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
This is the second book in the "Old Filth" trilogy. The story is told from the perspective of Betty Feathers, Old Filth's wife.
They meet in Hong Kong after WWII. She has spent time in a Japanese internment camp, later went to boarding school and Oxford and worked at Bletchley Park as a code
This tells the story of two people who are more dependent on each other than they think. Also how they make their lives mesh while rising to higher levels in society. Filth through his work in the courts and Betty with her involvement in running a house with staff, social duties and being a successful barrister's wife.
Two other characters are woven into this tapestry. They are Filth's nemesis Veneering and Veneering's son Harry. Harry becomes the child that Betty never had, in her eyes and mind, even though she is not his mother.
Written in a style that carries the reader along, with descriptions, situations - humourous and serious, and supporting characters, it is a book to take time reading and not racing through.
They meet in Hong Kong after WWII. She has spent time in a Japanese internment camp, later went to boarding school and Oxford and worked at Bletchley Park as a code
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breaker. She receives his marriage proposal by mail on his official letterhead. He is looking for a proper wife who will always stay with him. She is looking for marriage, stability and children. Neither is exactly what the other is looking for, and both have secrets that they think are hidden from each other.This tells the story of two people who are more dependent on each other than they think. Also how they make their lives mesh while rising to higher levels in society. Filth through his work in the courts and Betty with her involvement in running a house with staff, social duties and being a successful barrister's wife.
Two other characters are woven into this tapestry. They are Filth's nemesis Veneering and Veneering's son Harry. Harry becomes the child that Betty never had, in her eyes and mind, even though she is not his mother.
Written in a style that carries the reader along, with descriptions, situations - humourous and serious, and supporting characters, it is a book to take time reading and not racing through.
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LibraryThing member clue
This is the second book in the Old Filth trilogy. The first book, about Edward's and Elisabeth's life together, is told from Edward's point of view. This book is told from Elisabeth's. If you have read Old Filth (Failed in London, Try Hong Kong), you know the basic story although, not surprisingly,
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Elisabeth sees things differently than her husband. She has interests that Edward didn't speak of and lives apart from Edward mostly happily during the later part of their marriage. We learn that both have secrets. Show Less
LibraryThing member thorold
The storyline of Old Filth doesn't seem to offer much scope for sequels - it's pretty much a cradle-to-grave novel, with no obvious sign of a younger generation following - but, like Laurence Durrell in The Alexandria Quartet, or like Ford Maddox Ford in The good soldier, Gardam uses the trick of
The man in the wooden hat puts Feathers's wife, Betty, in the spotlight, and shows us something about the history of the love affair hinted at in the first book, but what it's really interested in is the way two people who are married for fifty years and may be presumed to know each other better than anyone else does, can still have important pieces of their lives that they aren't prepared to share - whether or not their "secrets" are really secret. And what the presence of those "secrets" in their lives means to them.
I felt that this was perhaps even a better, more complicated novel than Old Filth, although it's difficult to assess, because it does also rest quite heavily on the heavy work of exposition and scene-setting that's already been done in the first volume. Certainly, Gardam seems to be more comfortable with Betty as a character, and is more prepared to take risks and let herself be witty.
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going back over essentially the same material from the viewpoint of a different central character, and showing us how it can all be read with quite a different slant. I think she must have had FMF in the back of her mind - Sir Edward Feathers sometimes seems to have more than a hint of Ashburnham (or even Tietjens) about him.The man in the wooden hat puts Feathers's wife, Betty, in the spotlight, and shows us something about the history of the love affair hinted at in the first book, but what it's really interested in is the way two people who are married for fifty years and may be presumed to know each other better than anyone else does, can still have important pieces of their lives that they aren't prepared to share - whether or not their "secrets" are really secret. And what the presence of those "secrets" in their lives means to them.
I felt that this was perhaps even a better, more complicated novel than Old Filth, although it's difficult to assess, because it does also rest quite heavily on the heavy work of exposition and scene-setting that's already been done in the first volume. Certainly, Gardam seems to be more comfortable with Betty as a character, and is more prepared to take risks and let herself be witty.
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LibraryThing member quondame
The writing is once again gorgeous, and for me worth the time spent, but I didn't find Betty and her trials any more fundamentally engaging than I found Filth.
What was actually a premarital affair really is made a big deal of and the book concentrates on a less than 3 year stretch of a 30 year
What was actually a premarital affair really is made a big deal of and the book concentrates on a less than 3 year stretch of a 30 year
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marriage. And the end, except that Albert Russ survived Filth, is pretty much a repeat of [Old Filth]. Early sexual adventurism and it's later revelation is really thin material. Show Less
LibraryThing member liz.mabry
My god - absolutely beautiful. I picked this up on a whim before a flight, knowing that I had an afternoon to kill, and I am so, so glad that I did.
Why did I love it so much? Maybe it's the way Ms. Gardam writes about emotionality without becoming maudlin. The characters all stand on their own, and
At any rate, it's gone into my permanent favorites category, and I suspect will be one of those books that I'm pressing others to read.
Why did I love it so much? Maybe it's the way Ms. Gardam writes about emotionality without becoming maudlin. The characters all stand on their own, and
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I don't feel she expects or wants me to pity them, even at painful times. Maybe it's the lack of overblown prose - description when necessary, but not so much that I wanted to skip it. Every sentence has a point, even if it comes much later. Maybe it's just the simplicity of tracing the steps of a marriage that endures. At any rate, it's gone into my permanent favorites category, and I suspect will be one of those books that I'm pressing others to read.
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LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
I read this even faster than 'Old Fith', maybe too fast. I think in the first book I was slowed down a bit by the complex jumping around of time frames which I really enjoyed. This was more straightforward. Another reviewer observed that this book starts with her marriage so I went and checked and
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'Old Filth' starts with Betty dead. I felt more sympathy with Betty than with Edward but maybe just a smidgeon less admiration for the book itself. I shall buy book 3 and put it away for a year, hoping it centers on the women friends and not Veneering or Ross. Show Less
LibraryThing member Vivl
I have held off on reviewing this second book in the trilogy until I had finished the third, so as to have a clear view of where it sits in terms of quality and my general level of satisfaction with the narrative. While still an exceptional read - the quality of the authorship guarantees that -
I suspect at base my dissatisfaction stems from the character of Betty Feathers, née Macintosh. While both Betty and Edward have secrets in their past, Betty lacks the will and/or the opportunity to reconcile with hers. Old Filth saw Edward Feathers respond to sudden and shocking loss with a somewhat mad road-trip, taking him from disintegration of character to reintegration and reconciliation with his "self" and his past. Betty's similar loss leads to introspection and not a lot else. Is this a reversal of Old Filth's path? He begins fractured and ends mended while Betty begins whole and loses impetus/will/individuality? Perhaps.
The big shock for me was realising that Teddy's belief that he and his wife were a near perfect union - a pair who completed and enriched each other's lives - was delusional. There, I think, lies the true tragedy. Betty loves Edward, or so it would seem as she says this to herself on numerous occasions, but her passion lies elsewhere. The kicker for me is her refusal to let Edward talk to her about his past: she made a choice to not talk about hers, but he needed to talk, wanted to talk, tried to talk and she refused point-blank to hear. I find that unforgivable.
I would not hesitate to recommend The Man in the Wooden Hat as part of an excellent trilogy and, in the course of writing this review, have raised my rating from 3.5 to 4 stars. Well may my feelings towards Betty be the antithesis of the affection engendered towards Old Filth, but the ability to evoke such a strong emotional response is testament to brilliant writing.
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this falls shy of Old Filth's knockout punch, the clear masterpiece in the series with an elegant tightness belying the complexity of the Sir Edward Feathers' redemptive arc, and the satisfaction of the well-seasoned stew of related characters by which Last Friends brings an end to Gardam's fictional cycle.I suspect at base my dissatisfaction stems from the character of Betty Feathers, née Macintosh. While both Betty and Edward have secrets in their past, Betty lacks the will and/or the opportunity to reconcile with hers. Old Filth saw Edward Feathers respond to sudden and shocking loss with a somewhat mad road-trip, taking him from disintegration of character to reintegration and reconciliation with his "self" and his past. Betty's similar loss leads to introspection and not a lot else. Is this a reversal of Old Filth's path? He begins fractured and ends mended while Betty begins whole and loses impetus/will/individuality? Perhaps.
I would not hesitate to recommend The Man in the Wooden Hat as part of an excellent trilogy and, in the course of writing this review, have raised my rating from 3.5 to 4 stars. Well may my feelings towards Betty be the antithesis of the affection engendered towards Old Filth, but the ability to evoke such a strong emotional response is testament to brilliant writing.
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Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2011)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2009)
Independent Booksellers' Book Prize (Shortlist — 2011)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2009)