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Dec 20, 2010debwalker rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Chosen by Guy Gavriel Kay as his book of the Year: "The novel is a bookend (more than a sequel) to her just-as-wonderful Old Filth. (The title of that one is a wry acronym: Failed In London, Try Hong Kong.) The two novels introduce Sir Edward (Eddie) Feathers, a distinguished and eccentric barrister (he has his reasons for eccentricity) and his magnificent wife, Betty. They are moving and amusing and vivid, often in the same paragraph. The first book tells their story from Eddie’s point of view, the second one covers the same chronology from Betty’s perspective. The effect is delicious, books that remind this reader of how spark and sparkle, wit and deep compassion can still be found as components of a “major” novel. Gardam’s intelligence and artfulness evoke, for me, another long-time favourite, Penelope Fitzgerald - and that’s about the highest praise I can offer."