The Painted Veil

Written by W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by Kate Reading

Set in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic, where she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9780786146062

W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel. Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent.

Reviews for The Painted Veil

[reinadecopiaypega · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVE THIS BOOK !! I put it in caps just to let you know how much I enjoyed reading and seeing the film with Liev Schriber and Naomi Watts. Very few changes, the movie follows the book.

A pity that a few librarians told me that ' nobody reads Maugham anymore' - why on earth not ?? Too busy reading ' 50 shades of gray ' I suspect. Ok, I take that back, that was a bit elitist of me. My bad.

[ilovejfranzen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Painted Veil is a classic tale of redemption.Kitty, the beautiful, popular but shallow central character marries dull, emotionally reclusive bacteriologist, Dr Walter Fane out of fear of being left on the shelf after the marriage of her younger, plain sister.The Fanes move to Hong Kong. Kitty is swept off her feet by the dashing Deputy Commissioner, Charles Townsend and they start an affair.Walter discovers the affair and gives Kitty an ultimatum - he will either file for divorce - publicly revealing the affair - or she must accompany him to mainland China, which is in the grip of a cholera epidemic.Townsend's predictably refuses to leave his wife, citing his fondness of her and the damage to his reputation and Kitty is left heart broken and suddenly clear eyed.As she comes to terms with her position, Kitty begins her journey of redemption. Even though she does not love her husband, she begins to see his virtues reflected through the admiration of others towards him. More than anything craves his forgiveness for her transgression.Kitty becomes acquainted with an order of nuns caring for orphans and soldiers struck by the cholera epidemic. They are kind, but not warm towards her. Seeking meaning in her life and perhaps the approval of the nuns, she volunteers at the abbey. She discovers she is pregnant. She feels compelled to tell Walter that she does not know who the father is, even though it would be easy to say it was him. Another step on the redemptive journey.Walter contracts cholera and dies. Kitty begs the mother superior to be allowed to stay and work at the abbey, but she is refused.Kitty returns to England to find her mother has died. Free from the suffocating bonds of marriage her distant and uncommunicative father is buoyed by the offer of a post as chief justice of a minor British colony in the Carribean. Not wanting to burden his new found freedom, but determined to start a fresh life again with her child, Kitty begs to be allowed to accompany him.'With this new beginning ends Kitty's journey from self-deceit to honesty and awareness.I really enjoyed the story and Maugham's writing. While some of the story was predictable, Kitty was a sufficiently complicated character to carry the book along. Kitty acknowledges her foibles and their origins but does not point fingers, instead taking responsibility for her own shortcomings.As she emerges from the world of her love affair she sees the bigger picture and realises how insignificant she is.

[winedrunksea · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm gonna give Somerset Maugham (who I generally enjoy, most recently Cakes and Ale) and assume this book made more sense/was less boring and offensive in 1925. Right now, it's a pretty rote tale of a silly, superficial woman made less so by hardship and loss. (I can't help but compare Kitty's desire, at the very end of the novel, to raise her as-yet-unborn daughter to be different from herself and less silly and Daisy's wish, stated early on in The Great Gatsby, that her daughter be a beautiful fool. I think it speaks to Maugham and FItzgerald's very different sensibilities, with time favoring Fitz's. Maugham seems to forget all the societal pressures/circumstances that favor women being beautiful fools that will make fools of otherwise reasonable men.)

Oh, and then there's the racism, and I won't even get into that.

[katherinegregg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kitty Fane, unhappily married to Walter Fane, is living in Hong Kong and starts an affair with Charles Townsend. When Walter learns of the affair he offers to give her a divorce if Townsend will marry her or move with him to a remote part of China where he will work with a cholera population. Townsend has no intention of marrying Kitty so off the remote China Kitty and Walter go. Up until now Kitty has been spoiled and selfish. But something happens to her when she is away from society and forced to make her life meaningful. Walter is all consumed with his work as a bacteriologist so Kitty decides to volunteer at the orphanage with the French nuns. Kitty grows up and undergoes a transformation only to learn

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Written in 1925 when Hong Kong was a Crown colony, this is the story of Kitty Fane. Married to a man she didn't love, this spoiled young woman fell in love with charming, married, government official Charles Townsend. When Walter Fane discovered her affair, he gave her the option of divorce but only on the condition that Townsend will marry her. Of course, Townsend has no intention of that, so Walter compels her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. The story is an examination of love and fidelity that Maugham does so well. Although the setting is not as clearly defined as most of Maugham's stories, the early 20th century culture and manners of British Empire days are beautifully portrayed.

[lovelytoreadyou · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham was a quick read. I enjoyed the plot immensely, however the main character, Kitty, I was not impressed by. I believe the point of the story was to understand the process of change that we all go through in life - through the eyes of one annoying and ignorant young woman. I have little tolerance left for female leads who are neither independent nor strong willed, and perhaps that is due to the independence I myself have had to assert as a young woman growing up in the 21st century. I admire that in the story, Kitty came to see the error of her ways with Townsend - however her relapse upon her return to Hong Kong is appalling. I'd advise this book to a younger audience, as the life-lesson of humility is something that many adolescent readers could use.

[evilmoose · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maugham succeeded in creating a world that I felt wholly immersed in - the fates of the characters and their love and relationships mattered so much to me that I couldn't stop listening. Thinking back, I can't even really say why. Perhaps it's because I have been suffering from a nasty cold, and am feeling overly emotional as a result, but I never would have imagined myself feeling so invested in a character called Kitty - let alone one who was so ridiculously shallow and callous as she was when the novel began. Oh and Walter, his "the dog it was that died" was absolutely heartbreaking. I may have spent time crying like a fool throughout the final chapters.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Having been spoiled by her mother because of her beauty, Kitty is in no hurry to marry one of her many suitors. She makes the mistake of waiting too long to accept one of them. Faced with the prospect of her younger sister's marriage, Kitty reluctantly accepts the proposal of Dr. Walter Fane, a quiet fortyish man she doesn't love. After their marriage, Kitty accompanies Walter to Hong Kong, where he works as a bacteriologist. Kitty soon begins an affair with Charles Townsend, a colonial official. When Walter discovers the affair, he offers Kitty a choice: either go with him to mainland China, where he will manage a cholera outbreak, or he will file for divorce, ruining both Kitty and Charles's reputations. Kitty resigns herself to accompany her husband, where she expects to die from cholera.Maugham writes from Kitty's perspective. Although Kitty is vain and shallow, her unconscious naivety makes her sympathetic, as does her growing self-awareness and gradual transformation in the isolation of the cholera epidemic. With her mother's encouragement, Kitty cultivated her physical appearance while neglecting her character and intellect. Crisis forced her to take stock of her weaknesses and reevaluate her priorities. The novel doesn't feel dated since it is character-driven. Readers who enjoy character-driven fiction, either historical or contemporary, should give this a try.

[ebt1002 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Regarding the Mother Superior: "Her character was like a country which on first acquaintance seems grand, but inhospitable; but in which presently you discover smiling little villages among fruit trees in the folds of the majestic mountains, and pleasant ambling rivers that flow kindly through lush meadows." And, regarding the lives of the nuns (these words spoken by Waddington, who has befriended Kitty in the cholera-infested town of Mei-tan-fu): "I wonder if it matters that what they have aimed at is illusion. Their lives are in themselves beautiful. I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art." This is a deceptively simple tale. Kitty, a beautiful and shallow English woman, impulsively marries bacteriologist Walter and cuckolds him only a couple of years into their dismally boring marriage. He discovers her infidelity and punishes her by forcing her to accompany him to a town caught in the deadly grip of a cholera epidemic. There, he works tirelessly to help the suffering populace while Kitty watches from the sidelines, gradually learning that there are multiple viewpoints on any man's character, most notably those of her husband and lover. Disguised as a tragic romance, this novel is an existential contemplation of love, fidelity, duty, and the search for meaning in life. Why 4.5 stars? I cringed at the racism of Maugham's descriptions of the Chinese people and tried to remind myself that this novel was written in the 1920s and that Maugham was representing accurately how Kitty and her peers would feel about the Chinese people among whom they lived. Still, it took some effort to overlook the degrading choice of words and I can't give 5 stars to any novel, regardless of when written, that requires me to dig that deeply to suspend my judgment.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a fantastic story! Maugham's writing is fabulous, his prose, quote worthy and his timing, impeccable. How strange that the reader is plunged into a puzzling turmoil from the start which ultimately defines the entire book. Yet, in today's world of books being 900 + pages long or need to be told in trilogies, it is a welcome surprise. It is a story of duty. Duty to love others who do not love you and the duty to care for others who love you but you are unable to love in return. Just an amazing and memorable book.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The equation goes like this:
Plague sacrifice incredible writing=a very happy reader.

[fhudnell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book, the shallow, selfish and adulterous Kitty ultimately recognizes her own loathsomeness and attempts to change. I've always liked Maugham and he was very good at depicting the society in which Kitty lived. Unfortunately I never grew to like Kitty, nonetheless I felt the author managed to make an interesting book out of the life of a basically uninteresting woman. The narration of the audiobook by Kate Reading was good.

[pennsylady · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Redemption, purpose, redefining life's meaning."Kitty is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love. A beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change and to forgive."

[dbsovereign · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At times thoroughly depressing and at others transformative, this book is brutal in its exploration of conscience. It can seem melodramatic, but is nevertheless worthwhile. Well captured in the Edward Norton/Naomi Watts version of the film (which I recommend).

[stephengoldenberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second Maugham novel I've read recently -both as part of a course on Film of the Book. It's made me realise what an impressive writer he is. Considering it's written by a man, I don't think I've read a more convincing depiction of an unhappy marriage and a desperate affair written from the woman's point of view. It's a very persuasive account of the position of middle class women in the 1920s, in particular their dilemma when caught between the traditional pressure to marry and not be left on the shelf and the growing move towards more independence and sexual freedom for women.
Her personal dilemma, caught between her miserable marriage and her affair with a complete shit of a married man makes her instantly sympathetic although a very flawed character. Her husband, Walter, is an interestingly ambiguous character, especially since we only see him through his wife Kitty's eyes. For me, the main weakness of the book is Maugham's harping on about a higher spiritual existence, something he also did at great length in The Razor's Edge, the other novel of his I've read.

[vdunn-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Somerset Maugham is a master at exposing the best and the worst of humankind. In The Painted Veil he eloquently tells the story of a hasty marriage and its downward spiral as the husband and wife get to know the real people that they married. The ones that attraction and wishful thinking hide so well.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The whole story is about a man who takes his wife into a place where she is likely to die because she had been unfaithful. Maugham tells us that this story is different than all his others which are character driven where this was in story driven. The author was also sued because of the name of the characters, thus their name was changed from Lane to Fane and another law suit forced the change in the territory in China. This may have been a story driven story but the characters were still great. I enjoyed this quick read very much.

There is a 2006 film and I wonder if anyone has seen it and whether it is worth watching?

[tercat-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm really torn about the rating for this one. It's a 3.5 for me. It's a good story. In this case, it's unfortunate that I'd already seen a film version before reading the book. The film version I saw (Garbo, of course!), as is often the case, doesn't include all of the nuance of the book. Still, I wish I'd had no real idea of what happens before reading it.

Kitty ends the book in a burst of what almost sounds like feminism. Her emotional journey, the journey of her soul, is the most affecting part of the novel.

Though I realize the racism in the book may have been common to the time, place, class, etc., I still found it distracting.

I think I've set the bar pretty high for Maugham, which probably also affects my evaluation of this book.

[terribooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first Maugham I've read, and I was impressed. For a short novel, there was a lot going on. Kitty's maturation, although forced through extreme circumstances, was believable. The central point, that a cuckolded husband would force his wife to live in a city undergoing a cholera epidemic, is certainly shocking, and makes a great jumping-off spot for this story. Could he really be that cruel, or is he depressed and suicidal himself? We really don't get to see much into his motivations and character, until his last line. (Look up the poem he quotes from - it makes all the difference.) I expected a different ending -- that probably shows that I've been raised on too many Hollywood romances. I thought this was a wonderful book, and I usually don't say that if I don't really like the characters.

[bohemima · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kitty Fane, a lovely but shallow and slightly vulguar young Englishwoman, marries a doctor who adores her. They wisk off to China, where the marriage turns unsatisfactory; Kitty finds herself in a shabby but physically compelling affair with an equally shallow man, while her husband pursues his medical research.When Walter Fane discovers the affair, he cruelly forces his wife to accompany him to a town in the midst of a cholera epidemic. The bulk of the story follows Kitty's emotional and spiritual growth as she copes with the consequences of her actions. Maugham employs an amazing insight into the mind and heart of a young woman. This is a sophisticated story, beautifully told. Highly recommended.

[gbelik_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very touching, human story of disappointment, courage and redemption from Somerset Maugham.

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rather melodramatic colonial-adultery-and-redemption novel. As competently and professionally done as you would expect from Somerset Maugham, but a bit over the top.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the preface to this book Maugham explains how he conceived the storyline while on a trip to Italy. He was studying Italian and his tutor suggested they read Purgatorio in Dante's Divine Comedy. In it there is the following passage (which sounds much better in Italian I'm sure):"Pray, when you are returned to the world, and rested from the long journey," followed the third spirit on the second,"remember me, who am Pia. Siena made me, Maremma unmade me: this he knows who after betrothal espoused me with his ring."His tutor told him that Pia was a gentlewoman of Siena whose husband, suspecting her of adultery and afraid on account of her family to put her to death, took her down to his castle in the Maremma the noxious vapors of which he was confident would kill her. She didn't die soon enough so he had her thrown from a window. This story captured Maugham's imagination but until he travelled in the Orient he couldn't think how he could plausibly set it in a contemporary story. Maugham said it was his only novel that he started with a story instead of with a character.For me this explanation really added a lot to Kitty's story. But what really caught my attention was the fact that Maugham managed to live for 6 weeks in Italy on twenty pounds. Now, I realize this was a long time ago, pre World War I, but even Maugham felt it was quite an accomplishment.Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.I think Kitty changed quite a bit by the end of the book. Her experiences in Mei-tan-fu really shook her but I think the encounter with her married lover back in Hong Kong was what really transformed her.SPOILER ALERT(And speaking of that encounter, I think we would now call that rape. Kitty did not consent and in contemporary law that qualifies as rape.)

[bibliofemmes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We had dinner at the Asia Restaurant and held one of our most dynamic discussions, yet. Did Kitty grow or change? Did Walter commit suicide? Could Kitty change? Was she as self-centered and shallow as some of us thought? We read aloud a number of passages to clarify points and thoroughly loved the language and writing style.

[edwinbcn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had been reading [The red thread] by [[Nicolas Jose]] for many weeks, and finished reading [The painted veil] by [[Somerset Maugham]] in one sitting on the same day. These books are in almost every way opposites. [The painted veil] is set in colonial China, depicting superficial, adulterous relationships among expats. The story of [The painted veil] is very superficial and can be read in a breeze.

[senorag163 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved the book but the ending was kinda sucky.

[luli81_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another classic written in an unbelievable direct and simple style. The awakening of a selfish girl who learns to love and to ache with unpredictable consecuences.

[spvaughan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Painted Veil UNABRIDGED By W. Somerset Maugham Narrated by Kate Reading My husband picked this one out. He is a great fan of Maugham's. I was only aware of him from old movies made from his books. I liked this pick. I found his characters real and relatable even from this time period. Kitty is very believable as are her situations. It's not a light read (or listen) but definitely well worth your time! ps As a rule i only listen to unabridged books as i have found i don't like the way some things are cut in the abridged versions (plus i want all of the author's words...his/her voice)!

[rachelpenso · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kitty lives with her husband in Hong Kong, where he works as a doctor. When he catches her cheating on him, he volunteers to relocate to a small village stricken with cholera and she must go with him.

[eas311 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I seriously seriously loved this book. Out of nowhere too. I wouldn't have thought it would be the kind of thing I would like. And perhaps that right there is exactly why I LOVED it instead of just liking it a lot.Clearly, that tells you nothing really about whether or not you, reader, would like it as well. But too bad. I always just write for myself, it seems.