The Man in the Wooden Hat - Jane Gardam

I didn't realize that this is actually the third book in the series so I'm a little disappointed as reviewers on Amazon gush about how the first really set the stage for this one. I guess that probably explains why I felt pieces were missing from this story...

Although the book's title suggests the man in the wooden hat is a main character, or at least theme, the central people in the story are well known lawyer/judge Edward Feathers (or Filth as he is commonly known) and his wife Betty. The two meet in Hong Kong and although their prior meetings are never described, or maybe there were none, Edward proposes via letter a few days before arriving for a work assignment. Betty, having no other prospects and being very poor, accepts his offer. At a party that evening she meets Terry, another well known lawyer/judge Edward frequently clashes with. Sparks fly and she promptly has an affair with him.

Edward's childhood, which is not explained in great detail (probably in book 1) but is hinted at in this book, has left him with serious issues of abandonment. He makes Betty promise repeatedly never to leave him and Edward's assistant/friend Albert, a dwarf wearing a wooden hat (hence the title?), threatens to "break" Betty should she leave him. It's unclear throughout the book if Albert actually exists or if he is a figment of Betty's guilty conscience.

There's a lack of clarity at times regarding Betty's relationship with Terry, as well as much later in the book with his son Harry. Then again maybe it's left intentionally vague for the reader to view Betty either sympathetically or as a villain. (At the time of the affair, Terry is married himself.) Personally I had a hard time feeling sorry for Betty. She can't seem to make up her mind. One moment she's rude to Edward, running away to a friend's house to escape him without so much as a note, and the next she's declaring her love and delighted to see him when he comes looking for her.

The continuous flashbacks make it a bit hard to follow as do the presence of so many characters. But having finally finished it, I think it's an interesting story about how a very simple, almost businesslike marriage, can become so much more complicated by the longing for and eventual addition of love and passion.