A man to whom "nothing happened"

Some writers have to stretch their material or vamp for cover, building stories into novels that should have remained stories or stuffing novels with dull patches of prose or with needless subplots and plot twists - but this isn't Jane Gardam's problem at all. She has an abundance of material and, in Old Filth, which essentially tells the life story of a retired English barrister about whom others think nothing really happened in his fortunate life (unfortunately, Gardam tells us this more than once - in silly little chapters structured as overhead dialogue among OF's friends - we got it the first time) - and of course we see and understand that a great deal happened in his life, in fact we see a little more than he does (the affair his wife carried on with his arch-rival - unbeknownst to OF apparently, though in art 2 he does seem to overhear some gossip about this point - one would think, smart guy that he is, that he would have at least had suspicions all along, esp as he and Betty had no children and thus had a lot of time to spend with each other). In part 2 we see qquite a bit more of the events of OF's life, as it opens with his evacuation from England to Asia for safety during WWII: Gardam's problem, to the extent she has one, is that she burns through this material too fast. OF's ocean crossing seems to have enough events to constitute a novel in itself, but Gardam moves it along at a fast pace - and I think that's to the good: far better to leave us wanting more than to leave us wishing for less. The most sad and poignant element through OF's early life is the cruel indifference to him from his remote father and his self-centered aunts, who as we learn are basically stealing the funds his father sends for OF's upkeep, offering him nothing (they literally almost send him on his ocean voyage with no money at all), and either delude themselves or outright lie in stating how much they care for him, how much they have sacrificed. Horrible people all around him - it's amazing he thrived - I guess he did so thanks to a few good teachers and his school friend. The he finally manages to cross the ocean en route to his father and safety in Asia, we know from info given early in this out-of-sequence novel that the journey is pointless and that he will return somehow to England to serve in the war. Amazing that not only does Gardam have abundant material for this novel but that she built this life story of a man to whom "nothing happened" into a trilogy.