The Painted Veil

By W. Somerset Maugham

Kitty Garstin, a wealthy debutante, loves her life. She attends all the best functions, and attracts all the best men, though she would never dream of accepting any of their marriage proposals. Never, that is, until she finds herself at twenty-five, most prospects exhausted, facing the possibility of her younger sister beating her to the altar. Not wanting to risk life as a spinster, she accepts the proposal of Walter Fane, a doctor, and joins him on a posting in Hong Kong. In the wake of an affair with one of Walter’s superiors, she accompanies her husband to the Chinese mainland, where a cholera epidemic is ravaging the populace. While Walter battles the illness, Kitty’s conflict is within – Who is she? Who does she want to be? And who can she be?
 
Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9780771060168

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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."

[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.

[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).

[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.

[mrstreme · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Painted Veil is a beautifully written story about a girl who completes a great journey of love and learning. Kitty married Dr. Walter Fane out of pressure from her mother - even though she was not even fond of him. Together, they move to Hong Kong where Walter works as a bacteriologist. There, Kitty begins an affair with Charles Townsend, a British dignitary, and eventually is caught by Walter. Walter demands a choice: go with him to the Chinese countryside where there is an outbreak of cholera, or suffer the humiliation of a divorce. Kitty seeks advice and encouragement from her lover, and Charles refuses to leave his wife and jeopardize his position for Kitty. Betrayed, Kitty agrees to join her husband - sure that she is flinging to her death in the disease-infected Chinese country.However, instead of her death, Kitty finds her own life. She finds purpose in helping at the local convent and teaching young Chinese girls how to sew and embroider. Despite this joy, her marriage is cold and heartless, not even to be revived by an impending pregnancy. Kitty is left in the world without a person who cares for her. From this, she grows stronger and stronger - and learns that true love first comes from within.I loved Kitty Fain's character. She is completely fallable. She starts on a journey of self-discovery, far from home, and learns that she can find peace in her life if she stops relying on others to love her. "It's better to love than to be loved," reminds the Mother Superior at the convent where Kitty volunteers. It's a lesson that Kitty learns the hard way - but perhaps it was the only way she could fully learn.This is short read and highly recommended. I saw the movie first, which I am glad to have done, because I saw the actors portray the words in my head. I hope to read Maugham again in the future.

[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.

[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.

[ficusfan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An older book made prominent again due to the film of the same name. I read it for a RL book group.It is very hard for me to give an objective review of the book, because I have seen the movie first. I loved the movie, it was soothing for both the eye and the ear. As I was reading I kept seeing the actors as the characters, I couldn't experience the book except through the prism of the film.I found the writing to flow, except for some horrid problems with sentence structure that seemed to come and go. The book delved more into the depths of the psychology of the characters. The film only hints at it, but has more story depth. There are scenes and parts of the story that don't exist in the book.It was a short quick read. The characters didn't grab me from the book, but interested me from the movie. They seem nastier in the book. The locations, whether in London, Hong Kong, or mainland China are very minor to the book. The story revolves around the characters, their relationships, their expectations, and social responsibilities. Even the cholera epidemic is just a backdrop. Kitty marries Walter because she has not been able to make a good marriage, and her expiration date is approaching. He is in her set, so she expects that he knows the rules and how to behave. Walter has the misfortune to love her, even though he sees her for the desperate, loveless, spoiled, shallow light weight she is. Walter doesn't play the game the way it is expected of him. He builds an illusion of her, and is devastated when she acts true to form, and not according to his plan.Kitty is unfaithful with Charlie, a prominent official in Hong Kong, who is a known playboy, even though he has a well-bred wife. Eventually Walter finds out and they are all on a collision course.Kitty and Walter are locked together, and both try to get the best of the other, while keeping up appearances, so as not to wreck their future, and current social standing.Walter's plan is to take her into a cholera infested area on mainland China, so the she will catch the disease and die, freeing him without a messy, public scandal.Kitty has no choice but to comply with his plans, unless she wishes to become a homeless, penniless outcast with no place and no future. In her time, and her place in society, she would have been an outcast if he divorced her.Fate intervenes and Kitty is the survivor, but not until she has undergone a rather cliched redemption. She sees herself clearly, and how shallow and mean she was. Of course Walter is punished for his evil intent (Kitty's death). Even his heroic work in the epidemic can't save him. Its the logic of the moral story that can't be denied.Charlie continues his way of life, made possible because he knows the rules and how to play the game. He doesn't expect real feeling, only his own pleasure with the least amount of bother. His wife supports him in this because there is no appealing alternative.The unborn child, of uncertain sex and parentage, carries the hope of future, since neither the parents nor grandparents are able to change.

[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.

[mumoftheanimals · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At times brilliant, other times slow, often dated, the Painted Vale, is well worth reading.This is a tale set at the height of the British Empire. The beautiful heroine is having an affair with a charming assistant colonial secretary of Hong Kong. Her husband, a bacteriologist, discovers it and as penance makes her accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic in China. It transforms her in lots of ways.To me, the real delight of the book is as a period piece told by a born story-teller. There is a contrast between the strangeness of the places and the vintage Englishness of the personalites. The characters travel in sampans (a Chinese river boat with a roof of mats) and are carried in chairs by 'coolies'. Lunch is tiffin, The cleverest speak fluent Chinese. On the other hand, men talk of each other as 'thundering good chaps', pour whisky and sodas, play tennis and polo and wear black-tie for dinner even when dining at home.An authentic but less admirable aspect to the book which, somehow makes it more interesting, is the unashamed racism. Some Chinese orphans were trying to give Kitty, the heroine, a hug. 'She shuddered a little. In their uniform dress, sallow skinned, stunted with their flat noses, they looked scarcely human. They were repulsive.' Maughan intends no irony here.He is trying to make a point about 'white man's burden' - that in spite of the, to his mind, obvious inferiority of other races, the English are put on earth to rule them kindly and responsibly. It is not often I get an insight to an imperialist's mind set that is a mainstream expression of 'right-thinking' people of the time. Nowadays, they tend to be, at best joke characters. So Maughan's view fascinates me to read while he does not draw me in.Equally interesting is the portrayal of family values in the 1920s, in the colonies - and back in Blighty. Marriage was the only way for a man to acceptably sleep with a woman. Divorce was a crime and could break a promising career. Younger generation may struggle with understanding the impact of adultery and divorce without explanatory notes.

[monkimom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story begins with the very unlikable Kitty Fane. She is selfish, vain, and is bored with her husband. After an adulterous affair, Kitty travels with her husband to an area stricken by cholera. Kitty begins to work in the nearby convent while the nuns nurse those stricken with the disease. During this time, Kitty attempts to repair her broken marriage. Just when she begins to make amends, tragedy strikes. Kitty is left alone to face her demons.I enjoyed watching Kitty’s character evolve throughout the story. I first noticed the change when she began embracing the orphans in her care instead of being repulsed by them. She begins to understand that, in the face of so much suffering, her problems are very small. Kitty begins to empathize with others and make better choices. In the end, Kitty is stronger than she realizes and her tragedy is really the beginning of a new life.I was captivated from the first page to the last.

[sharlene_w · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kitty hastily marries Walter, not because she loves him, but because her younger and less attractive sister has imminent prospects of getting married. Walter's work as a bacteriologist takes them to Hong Kong where Kitty feels Walter's work doesn't give them the social standing she thinks she deserves. Her disappointments with Walter lead to an affair and all the problems that brings to a marriage. Ultimately, Kitty matures as she is faced with issues more urgent than her social standing. The story was intriguing and characters believable for the most part. Despite the fact that Kitty is undeserving of any sympathy as she got herself into the mire she was in, I was hopeful of a happy outcome for her. As cold and ruthless as her husband was in his choice to force her hand in having her confront her lover, it was poetic justice. Heartless as it was for Walter to drag her to the cholera stricken village in China, I found myself cheering him on. The ending left me cold, however. The book should have ended with Kitty's encounter with her ex-lover--Kitty edified by lessons learned; but instead the author for some reason felt it necessary to add the appendage of reuniting with her father. He never seemed to care a bit for her in the beginnings of the book--and the kiss on the lips as if he was a lover? What was that all about? The author chose to leave her weak and dependent on her father yet again. Why not leave her valiant, strong, and wiser from her experiences?

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book of the film, as it were. I actually preferred the film, as Maugham's Kitty refuses to grow as a person; the trite spiritual ponderings at the end of the book did not convince me that she had changed. Nearly every other sentence in Kitty's narrative - it is very much her story - is a credible and thoughtful soundbite on love and society, however, and her blunt honesty is refreshing. Kitty is very human, but unfortunately she has few redeeming qualities to appeal to the reader. She is not a victim of the times, but of herself; she could have attained the freedom she yearns for, but she chose to honour her mother's false ideals and stay with a husband she didn't love. Walter, too, is a very static character, once he accepts the truth about his wife: the natural progression, though perhaps not the most realistic, is that he would either forgive or forget her (as in the film), but he merely stews in his own disillusionment. Provoking characters, crisp writing.

[akritz_2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

very dry and slow. The main character was so mean and shallow that I couldn't invest much in her. Even her big change at the end left me unconvinced.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can always read Maugham - he's become my favourite author, more or less, and I'm always quick to recommend him to other bibliophiles. I enjoy those novels of his which include a narrator - The Razor's Edge is the perfect example - but where one is absent I still find a huge amount to grip onto.Most of the books I've read by Maugham have male protagonists, so it's somewhat unusual to read a book led by a woman. It makes for an interesting change, and although I'm waiting for the opinion of my friend Ola, a Polish girl who'll read the book soon and tell me if I'm right, I think he's done a very admirable job of portraying a member of the opposite sex.The story concerns a young woman who has moved to colonial Hong Kong with her new husband, and who has been cheating on him there. I won't divulge more details than that - the whole plot concerns the fall-out of their relationship, but it is classic Maugham through and through. Definitely worth reading.

[elphaba71 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully compelling book. Well work a read in my opinion.

[juliecarter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is wonderfully written. Superbly flawed characters, with very little to like in any of them. As Kitty is taken to a small Chinese village riddled with Cholera, she finds herself while trying to find redemption for a sin against her husband. He has decided to "make her pay" by putting her in the path of certain death. His character, his innermost thoughts remain a mystery while we live inside of Kitty's head and see her grow up and into a better person. She is never perfect, and continues to make mistakes, but watching her try is fulfilling.As I said, extremely well written and very engaging. Descriptions of the people and the Chinese landscape are fascinating. Maugham takes you to places in China you likely know little about. Wonderful book.

[beckyclayton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Painted Veil is more of a psychological drama than Maugham's "biographical" books like The Razor's Edge, The Moon and Sixpence, and Cakes and Ale. A young extroverted woman has an affair in colonial Hong Kong. Her "boring" bacteriologist husband discovers the affair, and gives her the Hobson's choice of a socially unacceptable divorce or accompanying him on a potentially deadly mission to stop a cholera epidemic in a Chinese city. The characters are less finely drawn than in Maugham's other books, possibly because as he admits in the forward, he developed the idea for the plot first and created characters to fit. There is also less of Maugham's usual wit. I would characterize this as a coming-of-age novel with a unique plot twist.

[csutka_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I saw the film, "The Painted Veil" with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. Exquisite! ***** A slide show of the most beautiful scenery, combined by a love story, enhanced by music that makes one enjoy every moment of this film. This is a must see. As soon as we came out of the theater, we went to a bookstore next door to perches the book so I could get deeper into the story. A perfect adaptation