I lived in the same small street as Jane Gardam and her husband for a few years, and perhaps it was typical of such a non-showy, sensitive author that many neighbours didn't know who she was, and those who did never made a fuss. A brilliant writer.
On first name terms only, to chat with if we bumped into each other. My two small children were inevitably in tow, and I recall her husband's enjoying a chat with them in particular. I recognised her from the outset but never let on; her natural reticence seemed not to invite it.
How very sad! I remember being baffled - in a good way - by The Summer After The Funeral as a teenager, and then experiencing the same disorientating universe in The Queen of the Tambourine. Much later I came to Old Filth, which is indeed a work of genius. RIP.
We need a Persephone Books for those second half of the twentieth century women who are now so unfashionable - Gardam, Brookner, Spark, Thomas Ellis, Drabble, even Murdoch.
Can’t recall how I encountered Jane – it may have been through you. The Old Filth trilogy is one of my favorite reading experiences of the last decade. Thank you for this.
I hadn't heard of her death, and I am so sad to hear of it. She was such a remarkable writer and I loved her books dearly, especially "Bilgewater". Thank you for such a beautiful and fitting tribute.
This is the loveliest tribute I’ve read so far and I think it will be the loveliest of all. Thank you, Henry, for just capturing everything so beautifully.
This is awful (that she's died). For me she's our leading current novelist. Wonderful treatment of the absurd, savage and underneath that, deeply understanding. Try Faith Fox and Flight of the Maidens. And Bilgewater and A Long Way from Verona are brilliant for the terrifyingness of the world when young.
Oh! I did not see that she had died, nor did I know that she studied with Tillotson (which makes so much sense). I also deeply love her work and that she published as a late boomer. *Old Filth* is truly a masterpiece.
Lovely tribute. Jane Gardam is so worth reading! I'm glad you're putting the word out there. Have you ever listened to her Desert Island Discs? It's one I'll always remember. Kirsty Young does a very skilful interview of a very private person.
My wife and I have loved "Old Filth" since first reading it about 15 years ago. In her book club, when her turn to recommend and host came up, "Old Filth" was her obvious choice. They devoured it, and Gardam thereby gained quite a few new fans!
Old Filth has been coming across my internet search on "best British writers". or "most underrated books". It is on the radar. I have been doing prompt engineering on Google since forever, because the algorithm is 'optimized'. Maybe Henry can keep introducing us to such writers. May be that's how real writers were long time back, away from limelight and without general public knowing of the advances they received, quietly doing their work like any other human, and crafting a tale, the emotions of which readers carry within themselves ( not an obscure writer, but I thought I will not be able to finish DHL's Sons & Lovers , as I was getting choked up on the observations that the young boy made about his mother. Completely forgot what the novel is about, but the feeling stays).
Yes, I walk into any book store and look to the fiction G to see if there is one I have not yet read. And she is the only thing that makes me linger in second hand book shops. RIP
So sorry to hear that she died. I only know the Old Filth trilogy (surely you should say sequelS, not "sequel"?), but I constantly recommend them to people - they are such unexpected works, not least because only when one reads the second and third books is one aware of the unexplained gaps in the narrative of the first, and so there is a sense of constantly expanding horizons, and the richness of the characters as each is seen from a new perspective. Thank you for the other recommendations of her books - I'll look forward to trying them!
That's interesting - that wasn't my own reaction. I found the way the background of Veneering was explored in the third book so revealing, explaining so much about his relationship with Feathers and Betty from the first and the second - how Veneering and Feathers are both "exotic" self-created characters, but with social class separating them, and how that leads into the kind of wary antagonism that defined their interactions in the earlier books. It seemed to me to round off the story so effectively.
I would agree that the third book, of the three, is the one that stands up least well as a novel in its own right - it plays off the other two much more - but surely no one reads it as a novel in its own right. But I would be interested to know why you are more negative about it.
One of the best. I never read a book or a story by Jane Gardam that I didn’t love. Your piece does her much justice. May she be read, indeed.
I lived in the same small street as Jane Gardam and her husband for a few years, and perhaps it was typical of such a non-showy, sensitive author that many neighbours didn't know who she was, and those who did never made a fuss. A brilliant writer.
What a lovely story. Did you know her?
On first name terms only, to chat with if we bumped into each other. My two small children were inevitably in tow, and I recall her husband's enjoying a chat with them in particular. I recognised her from the outset but never let on; her natural reticence seemed not to invite it.
How very sad! I remember being baffled - in a good way - by The Summer After The Funeral as a teenager, and then experiencing the same disorientating universe in The Queen of the Tambourine. Much later I came to Old Filth, which is indeed a work of genius. RIP.
So sad. I feel quite upset
We need a Persephone Books for those second half of the twentieth century women who are now so unfashionable - Gardam, Brookner, Spark, Thomas Ellis, Drabble, even Murdoch.
They are all in print through. What we need is more advocacy!
I stand corrected - you are right!
Well you were right in the sense that Persephone has been a great advocate for their authors, giving them a brand etc
They are all writers that I love and so little mentioned now.
RIP indeed. I must now read some that I've missed.
Can’t recall how I encountered Jane – it may have been through you. The Old Filth trilogy is one of my favorite reading experiences of the last decade. Thank you for this.
I hadn't heard of her death, and I am so sad to hear of it. She was such a remarkable writer and I loved her books dearly, especially "Bilgewater". Thank you for such a beautiful and fitting tribute.
This is the loveliest tribute I’ve read so far and I think it will be the loveliest of all. Thank you, Henry, for just capturing everything so beautifully.
oh thanks :)
This is awful (that she's died). For me she's our leading current novelist. Wonderful treatment of the absurd, savage and underneath that, deeply understanding. Try Faith Fox and Flight of the Maidens. And Bilgewater and A Long Way from Verona are brilliant for the terrifyingness of the world when young.
Oh dear, how sad.
Henry, where should one start if this piece has introduced Gardem to you? From the comments, I’m assuming ‘Old Filth’ but open to other guidance.
probably best, yes, but short stories are also excellent
Oh! I did not see that she had died, nor did I know that she studied with Tillotson (which makes so much sense). I also deeply love her work and that she published as a late boomer. *Old Filth* is truly a masterpiece.
Lovely tribute. Jane Gardam is so worth reading! I'm glad you're putting the word out there. Have you ever listened to her Desert Island Discs? It's one I'll always remember. Kirsty Young does a very skilful interview of a very private person.
oh I have not but I certainly will!
My wife and I have loved "Old Filth" since first reading it about 15 years ago. In her book club, when her turn to recommend and host came up, "Old Filth" was her obvious choice. They devoured it, and Gardam thereby gained quite a few new fans!
Old Filth has been coming across my internet search on "best British writers". or "most underrated books". It is on the radar. I have been doing prompt engineering on Google since forever, because the algorithm is 'optimized'. Maybe Henry can keep introducing us to such writers. May be that's how real writers were long time back, away from limelight and without general public knowing of the advances they received, quietly doing their work like any other human, and crafting a tale, the emotions of which readers carry within themselves ( not an obscure writer, but I thought I will not be able to finish DHL's Sons & Lovers , as I was getting choked up on the observations that the young boy made about his mother. Completely forgot what the novel is about, but the feeling stays).
Thank you for a new writer for me! I guess I was so busy, trying to survive without English in this country, that I missed several good authors.
Yes, I walk into any book store and look to the fiction G to see if there is one I have not yet read. And she is the only thing that makes me linger in second hand book shops. RIP
Sad to hear she died - very much loved the Old Filth trilogy.
So sorry to hear that she died. I only know the Old Filth trilogy (surely you should say sequelS, not "sequel"?), but I constantly recommend them to people - they are such unexpected works, not least because only when one reads the second and third books is one aware of the unexplained gaps in the narrative of the first, and so there is a sense of constantly expanding horizons, and the richness of the characters as each is seen from a new perspective. Thank you for the other recommendations of her books - I'll look forward to trying them!
I admire the second book much more than the third
That's interesting - that wasn't my own reaction. I found the way the background of Veneering was explored in the third book so revealing, explaining so much about his relationship with Feathers and Betty from the first and the second - how Veneering and Feathers are both "exotic" self-created characters, but with social class separating them, and how that leads into the kind of wary antagonism that defined their interactions in the earlier books. It seemed to me to round off the story so effectively.
I would agree that the third book, of the three, is the one that stands up least well as a novel in its own right - it plays off the other two much more - but surely no one reads it as a novel in its own right. But I would be interested to know why you are more negative about it.
Yes, I didn't like the third. It was as if she wasn't really concentrating. Really not good.