The Painted Veil

Breath-taking and a little magical, The Painted Veil by British author W. Somerset Maugham is a powerful novel about the disillusionment of life. Set in both England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil follows Kitty Garstin, a beautiful upper-class socialite whose life is irrevocably changed by her own doing. When she is caught in a tumultuous affair by her husband Walter Fane, a bacteriologist who moves them to Hong Kong for his work, Kitty is given an ultimatum. She must accompany him to the small village of Mei-tan-fu where an outbreak of cholera is ravaging its inhabitants, or he will submit a petition for divorce-a very public, humiliating divorce. Heartbroken to learn her paramour refuses to leave his own wife, Kitty has no choice but to leave with Walter. Though Kitty is bitter and afraid of the cholera-infested Mei-tan-fu at first, slowly she realizes the life she's been living until now has been empty and superficial. She watches as her husband's character blooms in the midst of the cholera crisis, and the things she once found strange about Walter she sees in a new light. As Kitty's regard for Walter grows, everything changes once again when Kitty learns that she's pregnant, and Walter may not be the father. W. Somerset Maugham is a highly-esteemed playwright, novelist, and short story writer well known for his understanding of human nature. Many of his works are placed in the Far East, such as China, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as Maugham was compelled to write Wester colonists and their stories.