Excerpt from The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

They stood together now at the far end of the corridor where the judge had his suite. They could see the open doors, gold and white, the noise of the party inside rose in a subdued roar. Edwards said "Unclutch those pearls. I want to put them around your neck." He took them, heavy and creamy, into both hands and held them to his face. "They still smell of the sea." She said, "Oh, ridiculous," and laughed, and he at last kissed her very gravely in full view of the distant waiters round the door. She saw that his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Why, the dear old thing," she thought.

Excerpted from The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam. Copyright © 2009 by Jane Gardam. Excerpted by permission of Europa Editions. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.