Most Popular Books by Jane Gardam

''A meticulously observed modern classic'' Independent During one glorious summer between the wars, the realities of life and the sexual ritual dance of the adult world creep into the life of young Margaret Marsh. Her father, preaching the doctrine of the unsavoury Primal Saints; her mother, bitterly nostalgic for what might have been; Charles and Binkie, anchored in the past and a game of words; dying Mrs Frayling and Lydia the maid, given to the vulgar enjoyment of life; all contribute to Margaret''s shattering moment of truth. And when the storm breaks, it is not only God who is on the rocks as the summer hurtles towards drama, tragedy, and a touch of farce. ''Tantalising, funny, sharp'' Daily Telegraph ''So charming a novel that you don''t want to give away a single one of the many twists of its plot'' New York Times ''Jane Gardam has a spectacular gift'' Times Literary Supplement ''Exact, piquant and comical'' Observer

"A quirky coming-of-age story . . . Female adolescence as imagined by one of the 20th century''s best—and most peculiar—writers" ( Kirkus Reviews). Originally published in 1977, Jane Gardams Bilgewater is an affectionate and complex rendering-in-miniature of the discomforts of growing up and first love seen through the eyes of inimitable Marigold Green, an awkward, eccentric, highly intelligent girl. The Evening Standard described Bilgewater as "one of the funniest, most entertaining, most unusual stories about young love." Motherless and sixteen, Marigold is the headmaster''s daughter at a private backwater all-boys school. To make matters worse, Marigold pines for head boy Jack Rose, reckons with the beautiful and domineering Grace, and yanks herself headlong out of her interior world and into the seething cauldron of adolescence. With everything happening all at once, Marigold faces the greatest of teenage crucibles. A smart and painterly romp in the rich tradition of The Hollow Land and A Long Way from Verona, Gardam''s elegant, evocative prose, possessed of sharp irony and easy surrealism makes Bilgewater a book for readers of all ages. "This is no ordinary bildungsroman." — New Pages "A striking story." — Times Literary Supplement

A novel that''s "brilliant on sex, brilliant on bereavement and death, brilliant on god, brilliant on dottiness" from the acclaimed author of Old Filth (A. N. Wilson, Evening Standard). The story of a motherless girl named Faith and her family and close friends, all of whom are determined to see her live a happy life. Faith''s mother died in childbirth; her overworked father cannot raise his child alone; and her unconventional grandmother refuses to acknowledge the child whose birth took away the daughter she loved. And so a motley crew of family and friends converges to see that Faith is brought up correctly. The concerned parties include Faith''s uncle, who runs a commune in northern England; the Tibetan refugees who have moved in with him; and the splendidly bickering paternal grandparents. What ensues is a brilliant comedy of manners set equally amidst high society and low. Faith Fox is a story that explores the wonder of the human heart in all its thunderous eccentricity. Gardam has mastered the essence of age and youth and above all nonconformity. Her memorable characters are sure to delight. "Wonderful, sharply observed, deeply funny." — The Minneapolis Star-Tribune "[A] cleverly wrought British import . . . That Gardam is a virtuoso of structure creeps up on you until you begin to glimpse the outlines of the multiple subplots converging with the satisfying click that reminds you that you''re in the hands of a master." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Hugely funny and deeply moving." — The Atlantic "Pure pleasure." —Anita Brookner, author of The Debut "An endearing story. Gardam''s feisty characters deliver a tale that crackles with charm and energy." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Engrossing stories of hilarity and heartbreak" from the Whitbread Award–winning author of the Old Filth trilogy ( The Seattle Times). A collection of stories from a writer at the height of her powers—a celebrated stylist admired for her caustic humor, freewheeling imagination, love of humanity, and wicked powers of observation. This is a delightful grouping of stories, witty and wise, that includes the return of Sir Edward Feathers, "Old Filth" himself. "[Gardam''s] stories, like delicate tapestries, are alight with colors." — The Times (London) "When Gardam hits her mark, like other exemplary short-story writers such as William Trevor, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Elizabeth Taylor, she can be dazzling." — The Guardian "Gardam''s brisk narration and fearless temperament make for serious fun." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Wry, economical and perpetually surprising, these 14 stories from English novelist Gardam follow the last of the intrepid, stiff upper lip WWII generation of British ladies and gentlemen. . . . Gardam vividly evokes an age of iron wills." — Publishers Weekly "Gardam displays the consummate skill of the short-story-teller, which is that of the caricaturist, the ability to capture a personality in a few brief strokes. . . . Privilege Hill is a collection of gentle stories that you could read to your grandmother, with the kind of sharp wit that would no doubt give her a secret smile. But they''re deeper than they look . . . so don''t read them all at once." — The Bookbag

Second in the Old Filth trilogy. "An astute, subtle depiction of marriage . . . absolutely wonderful" ( The Washington Post). Acclaimed as Jane Gardam''s masterpiece, Old Filth is a lyrical novel that recalls the fully lived life of Sir Edward Feathers. The Man in the Wooden Hat is the history of his marriage told from the perspective of his wife, Betty, a character as vivid and enchanting as Filth himself. They met in Hong Kong after the war. Betty had spent the duration in a Japanese internment camp. Filth was already a successful barrister, handsome, fast becoming rich, in need of a wife but unaccustomed to romance. A perfect English couple of the late 1940s. As a portrait of a marriage, with all the bittersweet secrets and surprising fulfillment of the fifty-year union of two remarkable people, The Man in the Wooden Hat is a triumph. Fiction of a very high order from a great novelist working at the pinnacle of her considerable power, it will be read and loved and recommended by all the many thousands of readers who found its predecessor, Old Filth, so compelling and thoroughly satisfying. "Funny and affecting . . . It''s remarkable." — The New York Times Book Review "The latest occasion to celebrate Gardam . . . [a] superb novel." —Maureen Corrigan, NPR "Told with quintessentially British humor . . . Gardam''s prose is witty and precise." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "It''s magnificent. . . . Funny, intelligent and immensely moving." — Kirkus Reviews

''Gardam writes about love, death, loneliness, money and madness with gentle ferocity. The Old Filth trilogy should be read by anyone who has ever been interested in how we become who we are'' Amanda Craig, Independent on Sunday ''Sharp, humane, generous and wonderfully funny, she is one of our very finest writers'' Hilary Mantel ''This humorous, melancholic final volume establishes the trilogy as a modern classic'' Kate Saunders, The Times Old Filth and The Man in the Wooden Hat told with bristling tenderness and black humour the stories of that Titan of the Hong Kong law courts, Old Filth QC, and his clever, misunderstood wife Betty. Last Friends, the final volume of this trilogy, picks up with Terence Veneering, Filth''s great rival in work and -though it was never spoken of - in love. Veneering, Filth and their friends tell a tale of love, friendship, grace, the bittersweet experiences of a now-forgotten Empire and the disappointments and consolations of age.

The Whitbread Award–winning author of the Old Filth trilogy captures a moment in time for three young women on the cusp of adulthood. Yorkshire, 1946. The end of the war has changed the world again, and, emboldened by this new dawning, Hetty Fallows, Una Vane, and Lieselotte Klein seize the opportunities with enthusiasm. Hetty, desperate to escape the grasp of her critical mother, books a solo holiday to the Lake District under the pretext of completing her Oxford summer coursework. Una, the daughter of a disconcertingly cheery hairdresser, entertains a romantically inclined young man from the wrong side of the tracks and the left-side of politics. Meanwhile, Lieselotte, the mysterious Jewish refugee from Germany, leaves the Quaker family who had rescued her, to test herself in London. Although strikingly different from one another, these young women share the common goal of adventure and release from their middle-class surroundings through romance and education. "Gardam''s lean, fast-paced prose is at turns hugely funny and deeply moving. . . . [Her] characters are acutely and compassionately observed." — Atlantic Monthly "Quirky, enchanting . . . with lively, laugh-out loud elan." — The Baltimore Sun "Splendid . . . Gardam''s style is perfect." — The New York Times Book Review "With winning charm and wit . . . Gardam frames her story in dozens of crisp, brief scenes featuring deliciously dizzy conversation." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Ebullient, humorous, and wise, this is a novel to savor." — Booklist "The portrait of postwar England as conventions crumble and the country is rebuilt is terrific." — Publishers Weekly

Set in South London, told entirely in the form of letters, this is an exploration of the imagination - the real world and fantasy - of a woman under terrible stress. The book was awarded the 1991 Whitbread Novel of the Year award.

"Pure delight . . . One perfect story after another" from the Whitbread Award–winning author of the Old Filth trilogy ( The Sunday Telegraph). From the inimitable Jane Gardam, whose Old Filth trilogy cemented her status as one of England''s greatest living novelists, comes a collection of short stories that showcase her subversive wit, gentle humor, and insight into the human condition. Gardam''s versatility is on full display, while her sublime grasp of language and powers of observation remain as provocative as ever. "A formidable collection that is at once outlandish and entirely convincing . . . It is Gardam''s gift for the ecstatic, for showing us what a place of wonders is the world and the hearts that dwell in it, that endows this collection with a dangerous and formidable energy, richer and more concentrated than any novel. She gives us miracle heaped upon miracle, and insists that they should each one be handled with care." — The Guardian "Unexpected appearance of figures from the past drive many of these sly, bighearted tales." — The New York Times "Readers will feel lucky to have so much good writing in one place." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Gardam''s preference for short stories shows in this extraordinary collection of great writing." — NewPages Book Reviews "A rich haul from a well of talent." — Kirkus Reviews

With her customary accuracy, Jane Gardam reveals the extraordinariness of ordinary people as she deals with the pangs of love- fulfilled or hopeless, sexual or spiritual, tortured or hilarious- in these eleven stories. Paraded here are ladies with a ''thing'' about vicars, strange events happening in ornate downstairs lavatories (and in ornate upstairs ones), and the English abroad, desperate and dotty. The glum and impossible Edna haunts the supermarket- and dispenses an unlikely kiss of life. The younger sister of Hans Christian Andersen''s Little Mermaid declares her sibling ''very silly'' and turns her story on its tail, an old maid forms a curious liason with a tramp, and small moments of temptation fill hotel rooms as histories glance briefly off each other.

From the award-winning author of Old Filth. "[A] wonderfully old-fashioned novel . . . This post-Victorian charmer is an engrossing delight" ( People). In 1904, six-year-old Polly Flint is sent by her sea captain father to live with her aunts in a house by the sea on England''s northeast coast. Orphaned shortly thereafter, Polly will spend the next eighty years stranded in this quiet corner of the world as the twentieth century rages in the background. Through it all, Polly returns again and again to the story of Robinson Crusoe, who, marooned like her, fends off the madness of isolation with imagination. In the Guardian''s series on writers and readers'' favorite comfort books, associate editor Claire Armitstead said of Crusoe''s Daughter, "This is the most bookish of books . . . Every time I return to it, I am comforted by its refusal to conform, its wonderful, boisterous bolshiness, and the intelligence with which it demonstrates that we are what we read." "Witty, subversive, moving." — The Times (London) "[A] richly textured novel . . . much occurs on the emotional landscape. We know Polly intimately, and she haunts our imaginations as surely as Crusoe haunts hers . . . a thought-provoking book." — Library Journal "[The] most seductively entertaining of British novelists." — Kirkus Reviews

Alice falls down a rabbit hole, changes size unexpectedly, and attends a tea party given by a March Hare. Along the way, she meets such unforgettable characters as the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Mock Turtle, the autocratic Red Queen, and other fanciful folk. 42 original illustrations by John Tenniel.

Two girls lose interest in playing with their doll house after moving from London to Wales but the dolls in the house amuse themselves by telling stories about their exciting pasts.

With her customary accuracy, Jane Gardam reveals the extraordinariness of ordinary people as she deals with the pangs of love- fulfilled or hopeless, sexual or spiritual, tortured or hilarious- in these eleven stories. Paraded here are ladies with a ''thing'' about vicars, strange events happening in ornate downstairs lavatories (and in ornate upstairs ones), and the English abroad, desperate and dotty. The glum and impossible Edna haunts the supermarket- and dispenses an unlikely kiss of life. The younger sister of Hans Christian Andersen''s Little Mermaid declares her sibling ''very silly'' and turns her story on its tail, an old maid forms a curious liason with a tramp, and small moments of temptation fill hotel rooms as histories glance briefly off each other.

Filth, in his heyday, was an international lawyer with a practice in the Far East. Now, only the oldest QCs and Silks can remember that his nickname stood for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. Long ago, Old Filth was a Raj orphan - one of the many young children sent ''Home'' from the East to be fostered and educated in England. Jane Gardam''s new novel tells his story, from his birth in what was then Malaya to the extremities of his old age. Brilliantly constructed - going backwards and forwards in time, yet constantly working towards the secret at its core - Old Filth is funny and heart-breaking, witty and peopled with characters who astonish, dismay and delight the reader. Jane Gardam is as sensitive to the ''jungle'' within children as she is to the eccentricities of the old. A touch of magic combines with compassion, humour and delicacy to make Old Filth a genuine masterpiece.

A young girl aspiring to be a writer recounts her experiences growing up in England during World War II.