The Man in the Wooden Hat and Old Filth

I've been remiss in recapping my most recent reads. I wish I could say it was because I was reading too much, but really it's because I've had too much going on.

We read The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam for our May book club. I accidentally read Old Filth first, which features the same characters but is told from the perspective of the husband of the octogenarian couple. The Man in the Wooden Hat is told from the wife's perspective.

They were both well-written interesting books recapping the long marriage of Edward and Betty Feathers. They spent much of their lives in Hong Kong, returning to England for retirement. Neither Edward nor Betty are characters you feel deeply about, they are too reserved for that.

I was reminded of Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea while reading Old Filth and The Man in the Wooden Hat. It had been a long time since I had read Murdoch's work, so I'm not sure if it was the elderly couple or the style I was reminded of.

In the end, I preferred The Man with the Wooden Hat over Old Filth probably because it was told from Betty's perspective which I was able to relate to a little more fully.