comment on style / language

In Old Filth, Gardam employs at times an elevated tone and style. Her descriptions can be long and flowery; for example, she describes the ocean outside Babs' house: "Long, long waves curving round a great bay, and behind their swirling frills, spread into the total dark, was the heaving black skin and muscle of the ocean" (120). Filth’s intelligence allows her to work in witticisms and somewhat obscure language ("slander [...] and antediluvianism" (86)) and have it still feel true to her character.