The Painted Veil
by W. Somerset Maugham
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Book Summary Information
Author: W. Somerset MaughamEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-11-14
ISBN: 0307277771
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Vintage
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780307277770
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Painted Veil
Book Review: "There is only one way to win hearts and that is to make oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved,"
Summary: 5 Stars
advises one of the handful of colorful characters (the Mother Superior) in this story of a formerly foolish young lady's transformation into a woman of substance.
The story starts with the author inserting the reader smack dab in the middle of the room where its adulterers, a 27-year-old married woman named Kitty Fane and her also married lover 41-year-old Charles Townsend, are secretly rendezvousing. Behind the locked door of her bedroom, they concernedly contemplate the identity of he or she who just tried to turn the doorknob. Was it her bacteriologist husband, Dr. Walter Fane, or simply a servant? Maugham's character descriptions are pointedly perfect. Kitty's mother is a, (p 19) "hard, cruel, managing, ambitious, parsimonious, and stupid woman." Kitty thinks of Walter as (p 37) "a restrained, cold, and self-possessed man" who "loved her madly," and Charles as (p 38) "tall and handsome." During their first meeting, Charles flatters her by stating she's a "a raging beauty."
When Walter finds out, he confronts his wife, giving her two choices, one which the answer to will show her lovers' true colors, the other which will test her mettle. She takes the semi-suicidal route: agreeing to accompany him to Mei-tan-fu amidst a cholera epidemic. There they meet several interesting characters, including: Waddington, who, not knowing about the adulterous relationship, provides some eye-opening information about Charles and insightful comments about the Fane's marriage. The convent's Mother Superior, who, respectful and appreciative of Dr. Fane's efforts against the epidemic, helps his wife see his goodness. Of course, some sad stuff has to happen to help Kitty gain proper perspective on the men in her life.
Worst of the book is the negative portrayal of the Chinese, best: super short chapters, great character development, and wonderful imagery. Here's one of my favorites (p 133): "The sky was unclouded and the early sun shed a heavenly mildness on the scene; it was difficult to imagine, on that blithe, fresh, and smiling morn, that the city lay gasping, like a man whose life is being throttled out of him by a maniac's hands, in the dark clutch of the pestilence. It was incredible that nature (the blue of the sky was clear like a child's heart) should be so indifferent when men were writhing in agony and going to their death in fear." The Painted Veil is a short, stellar story about a woman's transformation in the face of tragedy. Also good: Silas Marner by George Eliot, The Wings of the Dove by Henry James, and Reservation Road by Richard Yates.
Summary of The Painted Veil
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.The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive.
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