Sir Edward and Lady Elizabeth Feathers are devoted servants of Her Majesty's cause in the colony of Hong Kong from the time of the end of WWII to sometime before the handover back to the Chinese - in other words a very long time! In her book 'Old Filth' Jane Gardam chronicles the life of Edward from his unhappy childhood beginning in Malaya with the death of this mother in childbirth, growing up in foster homes in Wales with truly ghastly foster parents, to schooling in England, a career in the law which takes him to Hong Kong. Hence the title Old Filth which has nothing to do with his standards of personal hygiene, but simply stands for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. Which he does with outstanding success. Along the way he marries Elizabeth, or Betty as she is known, but we actually learn very little about Betty in this first novel. Together they stand at the top of the civil service success ladder, complete with knighthood (him) and OBE (her). The story finishes with Sir Edward's old age in Dorset, thus concluding a most interesting commentary on the life of the expatriate in the British colony.

In this particular book, the sequel, the author tells the story of the other half of this success story - Betty. Betty is also a product of a traumatic childhood, having spent most of it in a Japanese internment camp, where both her parents died. We don't learn much about her prior to meeting Edward, other than that she is really quite directionless and finds herself back in Hong Kong about to accept Edward's proposal of marriage. It is not and never becomes a marriage of passion, poor Betty having no role models of what a marriage should or could be, with only distant memories of what her mother was like, and Edward of course has no idea what a marriage should or could be either! Not a good start you might think.

But being British and of the stiff upper lip variety, full of post war fortitude and the getting on with it attitude, that is exactly what they do. Along the way there are slip ups and the odd tragedy which is probably a very normal part of most marriages, and yet it is all handled extremely pragmatically and sensibly with Betty never wavering from her promise to never leave Edward. In fact the marriage and their lives together comes across as incredibly ordinary, whatever an ordinary marriage may be like! But, as one would expect of an expert story teller, never dull. Despite the rigid confines of the British colonial civil service, Betty does manage to find herself, and rise above the banality of life around her. The gradual change for example from being called Elizabeth to Betty is an example of this. As is her determination to stay in touch with her old school friend who also lives in Hong Kong, but a far more ordinary existence than Betty. And finally after years of indecision, deciding that yes she will leave Edward and follow her heart rather than her head.

Jane Gardam is wonderfully observant and insightful of people and relationships. She also writes very vividly of how Hong Kong was after the war in all its colonial splendour in an alien land. And then neatly follows this up with the tedium and uniformity of existence in London and later in the small towns of Dorset where ex-colonials of certain standing retired to. No spring chicken herself, the author is well into her eighties, and, has been writing for children and adults since the 1970s winning a large number of awards along the way.

I'm so glad I discovered Jane Gardam. She's a writer's writer. She knows how to develop a character through action and dialogue, all the while holding the reader's attention. I started with OLD FILTH and now found the same story from his wife Betty's point of view. Despite their gnarly personalities, these two work things through, partially because they do each choose to keep secrets from one another. Something to be said for that in this modern age of confessing everything.

Es geht so! Irgendwie fehlt mir hier der "Flow", der mir aus dem ersten Teil noch sehr präsent ist. Der zweite Teil hat mich kaum mehr mitgerissen. Im Gegenteil. Ich bin froh, dass ich es geschafft habe, auch wenn das Buch recht kurz ist. Soll ich den dritten Teil auch noch lesen oder lieber warten oder war das Warten bis zum Lesen des zweiten Teils ein Fehler. Ich weiß es nicht und bleibe etwas ratlos und gelangweilt zurück.

Loved book #2, moving into book #3.

(3.5) This was a fast, entertaining read about the upper-crust British expatriate world as seen through the microcosm of Betty and Eddie's marriage. Well-written, but was felt so snappy as to almost feel like a script more than a novel.

A love story. The second novel in Gardam's Old Filth trilogy. Old Filth (Failed in London try Hong Kong) is a QC. The first novel is his story, but this is his wife, Betty's. Her indecision over his proposal, a secret love (for two men) that she keeps for all of her life, her tragedies, and her simple joys from caring for her beloved Dorset garden. There is is nothing startling here, instead a beautifully written story of a woman's life. I adored it. (I think it helps if you have read Old Filth first.)

Jane Gardam ist Jahrgang 1928 und Britin. Eine treue Frau gehört zur Trilogie rund um Edward und Betty Feathers. Auch diesen Teil übersetzt erneut Isabel Bogdan.

Nachdem es in Ein untadeliger Mann um Edwards Lebensgeschichte geht, ist nun seine Ehefrau Elizabeth an der Reihe. Geboren wurde sie in China; ihre Eltern verlor sie jung in einem Arbeitslager, in dem sie selbst auch interniert war. Im Anschluss wurde sie auf eine Schule nach England geschickt.

Der Einstieg ins Buch ist sehr gut. Es geht dort weiter, wo der vorige Teil endete, um dann kurze Zeit später auf Betty umzuschwenken. Doch auch für Neulinge der Geschichte gibt es eine Einführung in die Charaktere.

Ich würde trotzdem zuerst Ein untadeliger Mann lesen – damit man Edward liebgewonnen kann. Er kommt im zweiten Teil manchmal nicht allzu gut weg. Mir täte es wahnsinnig leid, wenn ein Leser diesen ersten Eindruck von ihm hat, und dann womöglich den Band über ihn gar nicht mehr lesen möchte.

Toll war das Wiedersehen mit bekannten Figuren. Gleich am Anfang ist Albert Ross an Edwards Seite, Veneering ist natürlich dabei, und wir begegnen der jungen Izzie, die sogar eine zeitlang Bettys Mitbewohnerin ist.

Die neuen Nebencharaktere sind allesamt starke Personen, vor allem starke Frauen. Da wäre die Schulfreundin Amy, die bereits eine Schar Kinder hat, um die sie sich so ziemlich alleine kümmert, genau wie um die schrullige Mrs. Baker. Auch Bettys Nachbarn in London haben mich begeistert. Sie sind ihr eine tolle Stütze.

Es war toll, mehr über Betty zu erfahren. Ich fieberte, litt und jubelte mit ihr, je nachdem in welcher Phase ihres Lebens sie sich befand.
Insgesamt hat mich Eine treue Frau wahnsinnig berührt. Jane Garden fesselt, ohne je belanglos oder oberflächlich zu sein. Mir hat es sogar noch besser als der Vorgänger gefallen!

Schau für weitere Rezensionen gern auch auf meinem Blog www.buchstuetze.wordpress.com vorbei!