Old Filth by Jane Gardam

Our discussion questions

1. What is your overall impression of the book? What did you like / dislike about the book?
2. There are large gaps in Filth’s story (eg meeting Betty, establishing himself in Hong Kong). Why is it that childhood features heavily in many memoirs? Are they truly our formative years? Or just the most interesting?
3. Was Filth as meaningful to Betty as she was to him? Or did she just stay with him for his money / respectability / convenience?
4. Filth’s relationship with Veneering changes from adversary to dreaded encounter (after knowledge of Betty’s affair) to companion and confidante. Can you describe a relationship of your own that has changed form?
5. “If you’ve not been loved as a child, you don’t know how to love a child” (p.159). Do you think Betty & Filth’s marriage was childless by choice, by barrenness or lack of sexual activity?
6. Whilst Filth is described as unknowable, unemotional and inhibited in love, he has the capacity to form close friendships (eg with Betty, Pat Ingoldby, Albert Ross). And yet, he experiences loneliness in his old age. Can we protect ourselves from loneliness? Is loneliness something you fear?
7. Jane Gardam was in her seventies when she wrote this story, featuring a character in his seventies and eighties. Did the story provide you with any insights to the process or condition of aging?
8. The author skips about in both location and time. Did this contribute to the suspense of the novel, or did you find it confusing? Did you feel that the story was climaxing towards Filth’s confession of his childhood events?
9. Parts of this novel are set in WWII. Some of Filth’s experiences of the war are rather unusual (eg as an older evacuee, guarding Queen Mary). Did you come away with a greater (or different) understanding of this time and place?
10. There are many characters in this book. Did they seem real to you? Did you form an attachment with any of them? Were there any that you particularly liked or disliked?
11. Betty has her famous pearls and her guilty pearls. Are you hanging onto any “guilty” items?