--- product_id: 3879454 title: "Old Filth" price: "S$35" currency: SGD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.sg/products/3879454-old-filth store_origin: SG region: Singapore --- # Old Filth **Price:** S$35 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Old Filth - **How much does it cost?** S$35 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sg](https://www.desertcart.sg/products/3879454-old-filth) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "Jane Gardam's beautiful, vivid and defiantly funny novel is a must." The Times "Gardam's superb new novel is surely her masterpiece . . . one of the most moving fictions I have read in years . . . This is the rare novel that drives its readers forward while persistently waylaying and detaining by the sheer beauty and inventiveness of it style." The Guardian "The Whitbread winner scores again with a compelling novel based, in part, on the early life of Rudyard Kipling." Time Out Sir Edward Feathers has progressed from struggling young barrister to wealthy expatriate lawyer to distinguished retired judge, living out his last days in comfortable seclusion in Dorset. The engrossing and moving account of his life, from birth in colonial Malaya, to Wales, where he is sent as a "Raj orphan," to Oxford, his career and marriage, parallels much of the 20th century's torrid and twisted history. Old Filth was nominated for the 2005 Orange Prize. Jane Gardam lives with her husband and three children in England. She has won Katherine Mansfield Award, the PEN Macmillan Silver Pen Award, the Whitbread Novel Award (twice), and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She was recently awarded the Heywood Hill Literary Prize in recognition of a distinguished literary career. Review: This is a subtle book and a wonderful one of two you must read - The book opens with the reader eavesdropping on a couple of young barristers commenting on the distant, handsome, elderly figure of "Old Filth," the rich lawyer cum judge who presided in Hong Kong before it returned to the Chinese. The barristers say that Old Filth had a quiet life, excepting that he made a pile of money, and is although distinguished, otherwise unremarkable. I have rarely loved a book so much and so quickly as this one. Eddie Feathers ("Old Filth") is reserved, well bred, well spoken, well dressed and one of the more remarkable survivors in literature. His youth would be a horror story in other hands. He is British from the day (post WWII, just as the Empire is failing) when to be a gentleman was to appear to be without passion, and to appear not to care about such ephemera as happiness. To be understated means that there is a statement to be made. Uunderstatement is in every sentence of his remarkable work, evidenced by the control Jane Gardam has of every sentence. Her craftsmanship builds character, story, plausibility and setting into a gently told, incredibly moving whole. Characters appear that deserve their own books, especially Mr. Ross and Sir,and perhaps Isobel. Every character breathes on his or her own and still tells us more of Eddie. How many authors can manage their populations with such skill, ease and fascination? But to see Eddie Feathers you must also meet his wife. Her story is in The Man in The Wooden Hat. "Old Filth" is a complete work and stands alone very well. But Gardam goes back and, through Betty's eyes, expands on what you know. Together,the books are the best exploration and most accurate insights I know of on how real relationships--especially long marriages--truly work. Their lives are entirely together, and separate. When I finished The Man in the Wooden Hat, I had to sit down and marvel. "Old Filth" was not originally intended to be "Part I of II" which makes the accomplishment of finishing a story that seemed perfectly complete even more astounding and incredibly satisfying. There is no point in telling you the plot because the plot is the vehicle for much more. Like Eddie and Betty Feathers, there is a lot more than meets the eye. If you love good,no, superb writing, read these books. If you enjoy the realization that there was more there than the immediate story made you consider, read these books. If you think that the 'marriage of true minds' leads to happiness ever after, you probably need this book to find a new definition of 'happiness'. This is an amazing writer who deserves a wide and appreciative audience. Review: Lawyers were children once - What a marvelously entertaining book! Next time you meet a charmimg, intelligent older person who seems to embody all that is seemingly prosaic, a person of some obvious merit, who having accumulated some wealth and station, but at first glance seems stuffy and unimpassioned, keep your mouth shut, and pay close attention. There are often such wonderful stories of character forged at an early age by the cruelest of circumstances. Old Filth seems to all the world a man who earned his reputation for being a good lawyer, a well respected judge, without breaking a sweat, as though he had more than a fair hand of luck.His peers reflect upon his life as somewhat unimginative, and though he was graceful and handsome, assured and friendly, they seem remember him chiefly as a modest man who never put a foot wrong. And yet, like all lawyers, he was a child once, and what a teeming childhood! I have never read Gardam's work before, but this feels like it is the product of a first rate observer who uses more than a bit of care in her styling and phrasing. It feels like she has spent a good deal of time researching her chronicle of events, and knew her subject intimately.Her descriptions of the Raj empire in Malay were lovely, her rendering of the scarred and often hardened children who were Raj orphans was handled without sentimentality, but with great tenderness nonetheless. The story itself is a page turner. It is impossible not to love Filth, but the writing is a prize too. The structure of the book, and the richness of the prose are so like the jade stones his wife, Betty, had a knack for finding in the Hong Kong markets after the war: Rare. Possessing great character and heft. They aren't easy to find anymore. ## Features - Used Book in Good Condition ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #157,093 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,193 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction #1,406 in Historical British & Irish Literature #3,083 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 7,522 Reviews | ## Images ![Old Filth - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71wtUUPKKkL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is a subtle book and a wonderful one of two you must read *by A***N on December 28, 2011* The book opens with the reader eavesdropping on a couple of young barristers commenting on the distant, handsome, elderly figure of "Old Filth," the rich lawyer cum judge who presided in Hong Kong before it returned to the Chinese. The barristers say that Old Filth had a quiet life, excepting that he made a pile of money, and is although distinguished, otherwise unremarkable. I have rarely loved a book so much and so quickly as this one. Eddie Feathers ("Old Filth") is reserved, well bred, well spoken, well dressed and one of the more remarkable survivors in literature. His youth would be a horror story in other hands. He is British from the day (post WWII, just as the Empire is failing) when to be a gentleman was to appear to be without passion, and to appear not to care about such ephemera as happiness. To be understated means that there is a statement to be made. Uunderstatement is in every sentence of his remarkable work, evidenced by the control Jane Gardam has of every sentence. Her craftsmanship builds character, story, plausibility and setting into a gently told, incredibly moving whole. Characters appear that deserve their own books, especially Mr. Ross and Sir,and perhaps Isobel. Every character breathes on his or her own and still tells us more of Eddie. How many authors can manage their populations with such skill, ease and fascination? But to see Eddie Feathers you must also meet his wife. Her story is in The Man in The Wooden Hat. "Old Filth" is a complete work and stands alone very well. But Gardam goes back and, through Betty's eyes, expands on what you know. Together,the books are the best exploration and most accurate insights I know of on how real relationships--especially long marriages--truly work. Their lives are entirely together, and separate. When I finished The Man in the Wooden Hat, I had to sit down and marvel. "Old Filth" was not originally intended to be "Part I of II" which makes the accomplishment of finishing a story that seemed perfectly complete even more astounding and incredibly satisfying. There is no point in telling you the plot because the plot is the vehicle for much more. Like Eddie and Betty Feathers, there is a lot more than meets the eye. If you love good,no, superb writing, read these books. If you enjoy the realization that there was more there than the immediate story made you consider, read these books. If you think that the 'marriage of true minds' leads to happiness ever after, you probably need this book to find a new definition of 'happiness'. This is an amazing writer who deserves a wide and appreciative audience. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lawyers were children once *by A***T on January 1, 2011* What a marvelously entertaining book! Next time you meet a charmimg, intelligent older person who seems to embody all that is seemingly prosaic, a person of some obvious merit, who having accumulated some wealth and station, but at first glance seems stuffy and unimpassioned, keep your mouth shut, and pay close attention. There are often such wonderful stories of character forged at an early age by the cruelest of circumstances. Old Filth seems to all the world a man who earned his reputation for being a good lawyer, a well respected judge, without breaking a sweat, as though he had more than a fair hand of luck.His peers reflect upon his life as somewhat unimginative, and though he was graceful and handsome, assured and friendly, they seem remember him chiefly as a modest man who never put a foot wrong. And yet, like all lawyers, he was a child once, and what a teeming childhood! I have never read Gardam's work before, but this feels like it is the product of a first rate observer who uses more than a bit of care in her styling and phrasing. It feels like she has spent a good deal of time researching her chronicle of events, and knew her subject intimately.Her descriptions of the Raj empire in Malay were lovely, her rendering of the scarred and often hardened children who were Raj orphans was handled without sentimentality, but with great tenderness nonetheless. The story itself is a page turner. It is impossible not to love Filth, but the writing is a prize too. The structure of the book, and the richness of the prose are so like the jade stones his wife, Betty, had a knack for finding in the Hong Kong markets after the war: Rare. Possessing great character and heft. They aren't easy to find anymore. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Probably the best novel I've read all year *by D***C on August 14, 2014* “Old Filth” is the nickname of Sir Edward Feathers, Jane Gardam’s memorable protagonist, for reasons having nothing to do with his hygiene, habits, or reputation. Sir Edward is a “Raj orphan,”one of many English children who came of age during the closing days of the British Empire. Born to English families living in any of the far-flung colonies (in Sir Edward’s case, Malaysia) they were eventually exiled to foster homes or boarding schools in England. This would seem to make for a potentially traumatic, affection-starved childhood, and indeed it was for poor Sir Edward. His early years constitute a Dickensian series of dislocations, exploitations, and deprivations. And yet, circumstance enables him to emerge from these inauspicious beginnings with an Oxford education, a stable marriage, wealth, and a distinguished judicial career based mainly in Hong Kong. As the novel opens, we find Sir Edward at the threshold of old age. He is coming through a series of jolting transitions: retirement, resettlement in England, and the sudden death of his wife. Physical frailty and blunting of his mental acuity have begun to appear. Above all, Sir Edward is beset by loneliness. Events geopolitical and personal have left him with few surviving friends or relatives. He has difficulty establishing new connections, no doubt a result of his disrupted childhood. How will he proceed from here? Will he settle into quiet isolation, speaking only when he wishes to grouse about the shortcomings of those around around him and the devolution of society in general? Will he manage to adapt in a more fulfilling way? Or, to put it differently, can a Raj orphan break the shackles of his past and find happiness? Gardam unfolds this story by alternating between present narrative and flashbacks. She executes these shifts with incredible virtuosity, even making them work to the betterment of the story’s whole. In some spots, the sequencing enhances the ironic nature of specific events. In others, the shifting elucidates the temporal and locational disorientation to which the aged Sir Edward is occasionally prone. Gardam’s ability to develop her characters is spot on. Her dialogue is flawless. She offers humor and pathos generously but precisely. I must admit to disliking the current craze toward books appearing in series; sequels and trilogies tend to make me skeptical. However, I was delighted to find that Old Filth is only one of three books that Jane Gardam featuring her brilliant creation, Sir Edward Feathers. I won’t reveal how the nickname “Old Filth” came about, but if you read the book, you’ll find out at the very beginning. Old Filth may be the best novel I’ve read all year. Can’t wait to read the next two. ## Frequently Bought Together - Old Filth (The Old Filth Trilogy, 1) - Last Friends (Old Filth Trilogy 3) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sg/products/3879454-old-filth](https://www.desertcart.sg/products/3879454-old-filth) --- *Product available on Desertcart Singapore* *Store origin: SG* *Last updated: 2026-05-11*