Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, this beautifully written character study is an affirmation of the human capacity to grow, change, and forgive.
The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but shallow young Kitty Fane, who marries for money rather than love. When her husband, a quiet doctor, discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to a remote region of China ravaged by a cholera epidemic. There, stripped of the British society of her youth and overwhelmed by the desolation around her, Kitty’s conscience begins to awaken.
As she takes up work with children at a convent and experiences some of the burden her husband has taken on, she and her husband begin to rediscover each other in a new light. When her husband is tragically killed, Kitty is forced to return to England to raise her unborn child. Though it is too late for her marriage, she has learned humility, independence, and at last, how to love.
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"This was such a great read. It has to be my favourite Maugham book by far that I've read to date. Such a fascinating story with characters that are flawed and realistic, plots that are like life without getting twee or sentimental. Just really great stuff. So many interesting people in this story. I have to say I think my favourite was the odd little customs fella, Waddington, that I liked the best. His outlook on life and how he viewed the world and the people in it, not taking things too seriously. And the transformation of Kitty, as she grows a conscience, empathy and a personality, really pulls the book together. She does start off as quite vacuous and self-involved; only being interested in people for what they can do for her. I suppose she is her mother's daughter. She marries Walter Fane, simply because her younger sister had gotten engaged and Kitty wanted to be married before her. But she doesn't love Walter (and I like the fact that she never does, despite all that happens - because confessions of love later on would have smacked of a guilty conscience rather than love) but lives with him as he can provide, get her out of her life and away to Hong Kong. And it's here that she gets a taste of her own medicine, falling heavily for Charles Townsend - married and in his forties - who is quite happy to have a fling with her as a pasttime, but when push comes to shove won't leave his wife and his cushy lifestyle. Walter finds out about the affair, is heartbroken, but has his revenge on her - taking her up into the wilds of China to work at this little town where there is a cholera epidemic. And it's here in all the death and misery that she starts to find herself.
I liked the ending as well, where we see how she can really put herself in someone else's shoes and start to make a real connection. You don't find out how it all works out in Barbados, but I hope it worked out well for her."
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Ape (5 out of 5 stars)