The Painted Veil (The collected edition of the works of W. Somerset Maugham) (Ulverscroft Large Print) (Vintage International)

by W Somerset Maugham

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.

• ISBN10: 1400034213
• ISBN13: 9781400034215
• Publish Date: 10 February 2004 (first published April 1974)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Vintage
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781400034215

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

Maugham does his thing again, where it’s the first few chapters and you’ve got these people figured out, you’ve heard this story a hundred times before but that’s okay, it’s a pretty good story, but then whoa, out of nowhere, these are real, deep, complicated, surprising people— where did they come from? Out of nowhere! Except not out of nowhere, it was all right there on the page in front of you, just a few simple— too simple, suspiciously simple— turns of phrase flicked the lightswitch on for what was there all along.

And also: Walter. Walter, Walter. There was so much under that surface, Walter, and out of anyone, even Waddington, Walter, it’s you I wanted to sit down and have a good long talk with that complicated brain. I kind of loved you, Walter.

This was delightful.