Author Description

Unique Elements Historical Context Detailed 20th Century Historical Map An Essential Literary Classic by W. Somerset Maugham The Painted Veil by British author W. Somerset Maugham is a book of literary fiction first published in 1925 in the UK. Read An Excerpt ‘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 the 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.’ Synopsis Set against the backdrop of England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil recounts the story of the stunning, superficial, and lonely Kitty Fane. Upon learning that she is involved in an extramarital affair, her husband, a bacteriologist, forces her to travel with him to the centre of a cholera outbreak in China. But once there, deprived of the small but flourishing society she struggled so hard to create in Hong Kong, and in the British community of her younger years, she is driven by her newly emerging conscience to re-evaluate her life and discover how to love. The title is taken from an 1824 sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the superbly written narrative is a beautiful and moving testament to the way humans can change, adapt, and overcome obstacles. Title Details Original 1925 text Literary fiction 5 x 8 in Matte Cover White Paper