A novel in patches - and what's right about British fiction

A few brief notes on Jane Gardam's Old Filth following book group discussion last night - during which we were pretty universal in admiration for the novel, though no one was absolutely in love w/ it and we were quite surprised that it was a best-seller in England - such a serious literary novel with a daunting structure could never catch on in the U.S., I think. For all the weirdness of Britain, they still have a tremendous literary culture - whereas in the U.S. it seems to be all mega-best sellers and niche books, in England there's support for a vast mid-list of literary novels that are by no means great but each is respectable, serious in intention, well crafted, literate, and intelligent. Where else could a novelist like, say, Anita Brookner, have such a long and successful career? We pretty much agreed re Gardam and OF that the trilogy came to her as an afterthought, following the success of OF. More than in my previous reading, it seemed to me a book complete in design, if odd and quirky in structure - she built in "secrets" by telling the story out of chronological sequence, and to tell it chronologically would most likely flatten it out rather than creating an effective "arc" of narrative. There are, however, many holes in the narrative, and I believe - from comments LR in particular, that the two subsequent volumes fill some of these gaps by presenting the narratives of secondary characters - Betty and Ross/Loss. That said, I think Gardam misses some narrative opportunities by failure to develop further the evolving relationship between F. and former arch-rival Veneering. Yet again struck by many well told scenes, some very difficult to narrate, and by the scope of the story that's put together in pieces; in some ways it reminded me of the very fine Mrs. Bridge, also the complete telling of a life in fragments, a series of very short chapters - though in that instance told in straight sequence. Mrs. B. also spawned a sequel, and in wonder if these mosaic novels invite a sequel because they leave so many open spaces through which the novelist can weave new strands of narration.