Old Filth

Synopsis: FILTH, in his heyday, was an international lawyer with a practice in the Far East. Now, only the oldest QCs and Silks can remember that his nickname stood for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. Long ago, Old Filth was a Raj orphan - one of the many young children sent 'Home' from the East to be fostered and educated in England. Jane Gardam's new novel tells his story, from his birth in what was then Malaya to the extremities of his old age. Brilliantly constructed - going backwards and forwards in time, yet constantly working towards the secret at its core - OLD FILTH is funny and heart-breaking, witty and peopled with characters who astonish, dismay and delight the reader. Jane Gardam is as sensitive to the 'jungle' within children as she is to the eccentricities of the old. A touch of magic combines with compassion, humour and delicacy to make OLD FILTH a genuine masterpiece.

Review: An enjoyable read. Sir Edward Feathers or Old Filth (failed in London try Hong Kong) is a retired barrister and a Raj orphan. Despite the nickname Filth is scrupulously clean and has all the elegance of the 1920's, he always wears yellow silk socks from Harrods and a Victorian silk handkerchief in his breast pocket. He has a great reputation amongst his colleagues and is remembered fondly and still much discussed, even by the younger members at the Bar. As we join the story Filth is eighty and living back in the UK in Dorset. His wife Betty is now dead and Filth is at a bit of a loss without her, she seemed to be able to run things so efficiently .. she was good with the servants for instance, Filth hasn't a clue what the name of his cleaning lady is, he calls her Mrs-er. Both he and Betty had been born in the Far East but had been shipped back to Britain during childhood. Later, after trying unsuccessfully at the London Bar, Filth had fled to Hong Kong where his success was described as phenomenal. But it wasn't really a place Filth felt he could retire in, not any more, English was spoken less and less there, most of their friends had returned to England and the end of the Empire was drawing near. Betty and Filth decided to settle in Dorset and it had worked, Betty made it work, for she was the sort of woman who was determined not to fail at anything.

Life after Betty was always going to be difficult, but things take a turn for the worse when Filth's old enemy, another ex Hong Kong lawyer and in fact the only person that Filth has ever detested (and the feeling was mutual) Terry Veneering, has moved into the cottage next door (which seems, at first, to be an extraordinary coincidence.) Filth is horrified and determines not to have anything to do with him, which he successfully manages for two years. But then, one disastrous Christmas Day, when waiting for a taxi to take him to lunch, Filth manages to lock himself out of the cottage. The snow is fairly heavy, the taxi never arrives and Filth is forced to seek refuge with his next door neighbour. He finds Veneering however, very much altered.

The story jumps about quite a lot, alternating frequently between present and past. We read how Filth's mother died shortly after giving birth to him and how his father always remained a distant preoccupied figure seemingly disinterested in the young Edward. This seems to be one of the main themes of the book, how Filth is always to be left and forgotten (in a sense this seems worse than being reviled - to feel you've made no impact at all.) In order for him to learn English and to keep him free from illness he is sent back to Britain to lodge in Wales with Ma Dibbs with two of his cousins. We know something unspeakable happened there, something Filth cannot bring himself to reveal to anybody although it is often darkly hinted at. Of course, we don't get to read what it is until much later. Eventually the children are liberated and Edward is taken away to boarding school where he meets the boy who is to become his best friend, Pat Ingoldby. Pat's family welcome Edward .. or Teddy as they call him .. and he experiences what it's like to be part of a large loving family at last, or so it seems, but nothing lasts for long. At one point he is sent to his two maiden Aunt's to lodge, but they are so wrapped up in their own lives that they hardly even notice he's there. His life is a series of lonely journeys.

'He wondered wherever the glass of milk had come from. He had not drunk milk since Ma Didds in Wales. She must be here. He heard the hated voice. "You don't leave this cupboard until you've drunk this glass of good milk and you'd better not stir your feet because there's a hole in there beside you deep as a well and you'd never be heard of more." The long day, and not let out till bedtime, and six years old.
He took the milk back to the kitchen and poured it down the sink, opened a cake-tin and cut himself a slice of Betty's birthday cake and ate it rather guiltily because it wasn't yet stale. Then he poured himself a whiskey and soda, walked into the sun lounge and held the letter up towards the tulip bed. "Betty?" Emptiness. Silence. And silence within the house too. Outside a most unnatural silence. Not a car in the lane, or a plane in the sky, not a human voice calling a dog. Not the church clock on the quarters, not a breath of wind, not a bird on the bough.'

Filth is troubled by the secrets and mysteries of his past and his mind seems to be wandering too .. it's 'too full of litter'. He chats away to Betty still and listens carefully to her advice from beyond the grave. He embarks on a journey to visit his two cousins (not Betty's advice .. she would be horrified), taking with him some keepsakes of Betty's but it only seems to make matters worse. Eventually, believing himself to be dying, he confesses all to a priest and this is where we learn what actually happened in Wales. The one thing that becomes obvious is how difficult it is for children who have been uprooted and deprived of familial love to go on to have loving relationships themselves. Although his life with Betty was ordered and companionable, it's clear that Filth was unable to provide her with the emotional love she needed and, unbeknown to him, Betty sought this love elsewhere (Jane has written a follow up book The Man with the Hat which is Betty's story.) Finally, having gone full circle, Old Filth embarks on one last journey, back to the only place he has ever thought of as home.

Despite the serious themes this is a book that's full of humour and great characters. Gardam says she owes a great debt to Rudyard Kipling's autobiography for the insight and inspiration for the story.