I shall need to come back in 20 years and see if I don't give it 5 stars, it certainly was close. At times difficult, at times recognizable, and at times completely unfamiliar. ( )

Historical fiction gives us a window into understanding how the world came to be the way it is. Gardam encapsulates the collapse of the British Empire in this story of Edward, born in Malay to a bureaucrat still suffering from WWI injuries. Raised for four years by servants since his mother died of childbed fever, he is then sent off to an abusive foster home in Wales along with two cousins.
The tale is told by Edward, now in his '80's, as he tries to find meaning in his life after his wife's death. We are only given glimpses of his childhood; he slams the window shut on the painful memories as often as they poke through. Yet his strong sense of moral rightness and duty keeps him prying at his memories. It seems his youth was spent blindered, so focused on excelling in his studies that he is unaware of most facts of life. The absence of loving parents has kept him from really loving anyone. His sole memory of freedom is mixed with the shame of being evacuated from England at age 17 rather than being allowed to fight for his country. We hear other people commenting "you would do well as a lawyer", but we never hear him express any desire for any career. He is intelligent and courteous, therefore he is respected by all who know him.
This tale includes many thoughtful phrases which are a pleasure to read. Edward, "Old Filth", remained in my mind in between my reading opportunities. Louise Erdrich referenced study by a pair of social psychologists and the New School who found that reading complex literature increased a person's empathy. This book will work on you; it's a pity Old Filth never read literature.[https://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2013/CastanoKidd.htm] ( )

Lovely writing, but somehow the story and characters were not that compelling. Some bit of energy is missing from this book. I don't think I'll read the rest in the series. ( )

Brilliant!
A reread after fifteen years and better than I remembered. Beautifully written with impressionistic chapters alternating between Feathers early years (nineteen twenties to forties) and his life after his wife dies. There is wonderfully warm humour with gentle historical and literary references interwoven into the strong narrative. The ostensible subject matter of Raj orphan becoming a retired barrister sounds dull, but the book is about memory.
He sat at his desk and attempted a Memoir, but found it impossible. Opinions, Judgements had made him famous, but how to write without opinion or judgement? Statement of facts - easy. But how to decide which were the facts? He shrank from the tremendous, essential burden of seeing himself through other people’s eyes. Only God could do it. It seemed blasphemous to try. Such a multitude of impressions, such a magnitude of emotion. Where was the truth to be found?

Old Filth is the book that gave me a new favourite author, so that I read fourteen more books by Gardam in the following three years.
I started reading Last Friends, the third interconnected novel about William Feathers, Billie Fevvers or as he is known at the Bar, Old Filth, and was enjoying the writing so much that I decided to go back and reread this first book. And it is a delight to reacquaint myself with Old Filth and Gardam. ( )

Somewhere I saw a mention of this book and I was intrigued enough to put a hold on it at my library. It was published in 2004 and is the first of a trilogy about an aged barrister nicknamed "Old Filth" because he coined the phrase "Failed In London, Try Hong Kong". Think Rumpole in his 80s but a Rumpole that made a fortune representing Chinese builders and contractors in Hong Kong.

Edward Feathers was born in Malaysia some time in the early twentieth century (probably the 1920s since he was too young to join up when World War II was declared) when the British Empire was still going strong. Immediately after his birth his mother died of puerperal fever. A wet nurse was procured to feed him during his infancy but once he grew enough to get about on his own little Edward was unhampered by grownups. His father hardly even spoke to him. When Edward was almost five years old it was determined that he should be sent back to England because English children after that age tended to acquire diseases and die. A missionary who was also going home was induced to look after Edward on the long trip and she then deposited him along with two female cousins at a foster home in Wales. Apparently it was quite common for "Raj orphans" to spendEarly in the book there are hints that this placement was rather dreadful but the actual details don't come out until almost the end of the book. Edward is rescued from there by "Sir", the head of a Prep school in the Lake District. On his first day at school Feathers meets Ingoldby who became his best friend and surrogate brother. For the duration of their school years Feathers spent all the school vacations with the Ingoldby family and looked upon them as his real family. All that was lost to him when his friend died in the first year of World War II. Edward was supposed to go out to his father for the war where :he would be safe" but after taking ship all the way to Ceylon he learned Singapore where his father was stationed had been captured and he returned to England. Due to illness acquired on board the ship his first wartime duty was to guard Dowager Queen Mary who was ensconced in manor in Gloucestershire for her safety. After the war he entered Oxford and became a barrister in the London courts. He might have lingered there unsuccessfully except for his services being requested in Hong Kong by the shipmate that had accompanied him from England to Ceylon. That started his very successful career in the East. Feathers married another Raj orphan, Betty, but they had no children. We only get glimpses of Feathers' life in Hong Kong. It was his childhood and his senior years that take up the bulk of the book. But those are certainly fascinating. I am anxious to read the rest of the trilogy. ( )