Failed in London, Tried Hongkong: 

The tale of British expats abroad in Hong Kong, Lawyers in Love

Book Review: Jane Gardam Trilogy:

Lovers of English literature will enjoy the trilogy of books by Jane Gardam written in 2004, 2009, and 2013. These @EuropaEditions were recommended by @DeepVellumBooks which is a Dallas (non-profit) bookseller and publisher, from whom I purchased Vol. 1 for $20.00.

As we currently observe the political divide between nationalism and globalism, these books unfold with a backdrop of the historiography of the (declining) post-war British Empire, including a unique view of the colonialism, imperialism, mercantilism, and the legal-economic culture of expat lawyers abroad.

Author Jane Gardam takes the story of a love “triangle” of sorts, to Hong Kong and back to the "Donheads" of Southwest England, near Dorset. The trilogy’s emotional landscape plays out between two rivals and one eccentric woman, but Gardam’s immense talent as a writer fully illustrates and explicates many other quirky English characters from the Queen, all the way to the crazy town mail carrier.

The opening saga is entitled “Old Filth” about an English lawyer who, “Failed in London, Tried Hongkong,” or FILTH, as an acronym. “Last Friends” ties up the cast and their inter-woven lives in book 3, including 70 years of complicated friendships; however, as successful and dominant as these uppercrust Brits appear, like the British Empire, they often took wrong turns by making foolish decisions.

The second and third novels in the sequence are not so much sequels or “prequels” to the first, as they are augmentations, or different POVs. As the trilogy advances, the supporting characters from Old Filth emerge with their own life histories, altering, and occasionally exploding the first understanding of what occurred in the opening book FILTH. But to quote Gardam, there are “no minor characters” in life nor in these books.

Surprisingly easy to read despite my lack of knowledge of this particular niche of English culture, still I constantly looked up the meanings to “Brit” words, and sometimes didn’t understand their profession despite my own legal training. Empathetic writing kept my interest, sometimes relating to the characters, often feeling sorry for them,  but any anglophile would give these books ***** out of 5-stars!