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Last Friends

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Last Friends

By: Jane Gardam
Narrated by: Bill Wallis
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About this listen

Shortlisted for the 2014 Folio Prize.

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's were not the usual beginnings of an establishment silk: the son of a Russian acrobat marooned in Northeast England and a devoted local girl, he escapes the war to emerge in the Far East as a man of panache, success, and fame. But always at the stuffy English Bar he is treated with suspicion: where did this blond, louche, brilliant Slav come from?

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.

©2013 Jane Gardam (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction

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Critic reviews

"An ambitious and complex portrait of extraordinary times." (Guardian)
All stars
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Top of my list to listen again . knew this was part of a trilogy & paced myself as l enjoyed them so much . this is the third book that ties up all the characters . Looking forward to JG other books .

Jane will transport you to another time & place making you wish you knew the characters personally

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Absolutely wonderful story beautifully written and read. You should read the trilogy in order for maximum effect.
Superbly read by Bill Wallis. Didn’t want it to end.

Wonderful trilogy beautifully read

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I liked most how the lives of all the characters were intertwined and how this was revealed bit by bit.

Lovely sequel to first two books

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This is the last of the trilogy of Jane Gardam's tale of the interweaving lives of two lawyers..or rather, here, their afterlives, We learn, through flashback ,about the past of Filth's arch enemy , Veneering, and old friends who knew him, especially through the eyes of a dotty aristocratic lady,Dulcie. Gardam tells the tale with much tenderness , insight and humour.
As always, Bill Wallis is a wizard at characterization..though this time i feel he " throws away" too many good sentences with his off- hand intonation.

touching end to engaging trilogy, beautifully read

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Gardam ~ so sad she's gone - really knew the post-war post-colonial little world she takes the reader into. The balance of humour and pathos is supremely balanced. An author who makes so many recent fiction writers appear to have feet of clay. Just loved it - and it is masterfully narrated too, assisting us back into that world. Loved it!

Quirky, plausible, authentic!

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I haven’t heard any books for a long time that have been as wonderful as Old Filth, The Man in the Wooden Hat, and Last Friends. Bill Wallace is a fantastic (underlined, italicised, highlighted, and in bold) narrator. Glad I’ve heard them, sad that I’ve finished, magic squared

All three books an absolute utter delight

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This trilogy by Jane Gardham was a delight to listen too. Eloquently written and read, it was a moving and beautiful insight into the age of the empire most recent.

Superb Trilogy

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the fact that no one has had the courtesy to respond to my complaint. Twice.

last chapter was missing

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