Listen free for 30 days
The Man in the Wooden Hat
Summary
Filth (Failed in London, Try Hong Kong) is a successful lawyer when he marries Elisabeth in Hong Kong soon after the war. Reserved, immaculate, and courteous, Filth finds it hard to demonstrate his emotions.
But Elisabeth is different - a free spirit. She was brought up in the Japanese internment camps, which killed both her parents but left her with a lust for survival and an affinity with the Far East. No wonder she is attracted to Filth's hated rival at the bar - the brash, forceful Veneering. Veneering has a Chinese wife and an adored son - and no difficulty whatsoever in demonstrating his emotions....
How Elisabeth turns into Betty and whether she remains loyal to stolid Filth or is swept up by caddish Veneering makes for a pause-resisting plot in a perfect novel which is full of surprises and revelations as well as the humour and eccentricities for which Jane Gardam's writing is famous.
More from the same
What members say
Average customer ratings
Overall
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars32
-
4 Stars6
-
3 Stars6
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars34
-
4 Stars6
-
3 Stars3
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars27
-
4 Stars9
-
3 Stars7
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- barbara
- 27-10-17
A must read .. i was transported to another time & place
this & the first of the trilogy & was immensely enjoyable .. the characters come to life before your eyes & the narration is sublime . Bill Wallace will be in my top 10 of narrators from now on .
I will be saving the book 3 for a long journey though Jane Gardam has written other stories & i’ve no doubt they too will be in my library soon .
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lewis
- 23-01-19
Old Filth Book 2
Fills ina lot of the gaps in Book1. Very well read by Bill Wallace. Looking forward to Book 3.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Judi
- 10-06-18
LOVED OLD FILTH, DISAPPOINTED IN THE 2nd Part
Love the subject matter, not one seen, or read often and the first part with its differing time spans and switching from one to another works in this case. Great story, good narrative but this second part was disappointing as it seems to rush through Betty's life and does not give her as much credence as I believe she deserves. Will wait awhile to 'read' part three.