THE PAINTED VEIL, A NOVEL BY W.SOMERSET MAUGHAM (BOOK REVIEW)

Hello, dear readers! In this post, I'll review The Painted Veil, a novel by British writer William Somerset Maugham. Published in 1925, this novel was initially considered controversial because of its frank portrayal of martial infidelity. However, I think the implication of diplomatic corruption and the critique of British class system had something to do with it as well. Perhaps it hit a bit too close too home for the 1920th society, and for some especially so. 

The author faced a lawsuit and had to change the surnames of its protagonist, something that he talks about in the Preface. Moreover, Maugham had to replace Hong Kong with an imaginary name Tching-Yen, thought, this imaginary name was not used in later editions. We don't know whether Maugham was inspired by any particular couple when writing this story, but we do know that he draw from his work experience as a doctor and his dabbling in science.

This novel, whose title is a direct reference to Shelley's famous 1824 sonnet,  absolutely  enchanted me with its in-depth psychological portrayal of characters. It is a wonderfully subtle work, incredibly moving and poignant.  If you want to read it, you can find a free version of this novel on Wikipedia (wiki source The Painted Veil), Project Gutenberg  and pretty much any decent online library. You don't have to spend a dime to download it,  and if you want to read it on kindle,  a free kindle version is also available on Project Gutenberg. I don't know who needs to hear this, but you can find any historical classic online for free (since the copyright expires with passage of time). 

To accompany this book review and recommendation, I chose photographs from Hutovo blato, a wetland and national park in Bosnia and Herzegovina because the scenery seems to somewhat match that  described in the book. Plus, I happen to wear a veil of sorts. It's not exactly a painted veil but it is a scarf with a pattern I wore to protect myself against the harsh sun. However, this was just a coincidence and I only decided to use these photographs after I read the book. I do tend to wear oversized scarves over my summer hats in summer because the sun here is merciless.

As you might notice, I like to put some effort into matching my photographs with book reviews. I also made some collages to show your the original cover of the novel, movie poster and all that. This novel was actually adapted to film multiple times, including one film with Greta Garbo. Now, I only watched the newest 2006 adaptation, but the post will be more focused on the book and I'll explain why in a second. 

ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO I WATCHED THE FILM- THE PAINTED VEIL

 One summer night a few weeks ago, I saw the most recent movie adaptation of The Painted Veil. As soon as the movie finished, I googled it looking for the book it was based on. Nobody had to tell me it was based on a novel, I simply knew it. No offense to Hollywood, but I knew that nobody there can ever come up with something this profound, subtle and meaningful. No hate to Hollywood, but it's clearly  focused on action films and the blockbusters, so the writers there must adapt and never get the opportunity to write an original story resembling this one. 

I IMMEDIATELY LOOKED FOR THE NOVEL IT WAS BASED ON

Indeed, I was correct in assuming that this movie was based on a book. Not just any novel, but a work of W. Somerset Maugham. As someone who has discovered Maugham as an author fairly recently (only last Summer if I recall well), you can imagine how excited I was to read a novel of his! I did like the film, don't get me wrong, but of course -the book was something else. Moreover, the book and the film are actually quite different. Initially, I thought of writing one review for both of them but then I realized that would be difficult because I had so much to say about this novel!

I DECIDED TO REVIEW BOTH THE NOVEL AND THE FILM BUT IN SEPERATE POSTS!

After some thinking, I decided to split my review in two parts. One will be a review of  just the book and the second one will be a review of the film. Maybe there will even be the third one in which I will compare the movie and the book. After all, I did enjoyed both and wouldn't mind explaining why.

I ACTUALLY STAYED  UP WHOLE NIGHT READING THE PAINTED VEIL!

The film was screened late, but it intrigued me, so I watched it. It was around 2 am when it ended. As I already said, I looked for the novel immediately- and once I found it, I couldn't stop reading it.

I finished reading it as the sun came out. I was reading it all night until the dawn! That's how good it was. When it comes to books, I prefer to read them in their traditional form. However, there was no library opened at 2 am, so I read this one online. It just proves how fantastic the novel was, I didn't even feel like stopping or taking a break. 

I WILL TRY TO AVOID SPOILERS IN THIS BOOK REVIEW!

I'll do my best to avoid spoilers in this book review, even if it means that I won't be able to discuss the ending of the novel in detail. I might do another review that won't be spoiler free!

FIRST, A FEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE NOVEL!

WHAT KIND OF NOVEL IS THE PAINTED VEIL? WHAT GENRE DOES IT FALL INTO? 

The Painted Veil is a work of psychological realism with subtle elements of naturalism. There's also a philosophical aspect of the novel, but it's quite elusive and understated, so it might even be missed by most readers. 

WHAT NARRATIVE VOICE DOES IT USE? HOW LONG IS IT? 

Written in the third person voice, it follows the life of Kitty Garstin. For a work of realism, it's a rather short novel, a little under two hundred and fifty pages and about sixty-one thousand words long. So, the reading time will be about six hours for an average reader.

WHAT KIND OF PROTAGONIST IS KITTY GARSTIN? 

A lot of reviews describe Kitty as a spoiled brat, and I don't think that's quite just or entirely right. Kitty's upbringing isn't exactly ideal or privileged as it might seem, for Kitty is starved for love in her parental home. While she doesn't do much during her early twenties except have a jolly good time, it's nothing out of the ordinary for the society of her time. Moreover, Kitty's mother seems to fit the definition of somebody with a narcissistic personality disorder, keeping their family under constant stress of society climbing and keeping up appearances. 

So, I wouldn't agree that this is a novel about a spoiled young women. Terribly superficial at start yes, and spoiled perhaps to a degree, but not spoiled to the degree for it to be its defying characteristic. Right from the start, Kitty is portrayed as a very human being in the sense she is flawed, and like most, she is unconsciously and sometimes consciously filled with prejudices and beliefs of her time. Nevertheless, even at the very start of the novel, Kitty has got some redeeming qualities, and at any rate, I found it easy to feel for her.

Moreover, Kitty as a protagonist undergoes deep personal and psychological change and that's essentially what this novel is about. It's about her reawakening if you will. Kitty is the focal character and the novel is all about her. 

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS IN THIS NOVEL? HOW ARE THEY PORTRAYED? 

Since Kitty is the principal character of this novel, the most important characters in this novel are those that have some kind of relationship with Kitty: her husband, her lover, her friend and her family members. The character list is rather longer than that, and includes characters from both the British society in Britain and Hong Kong to Chinese characters. The portrayal of characters in the novel is wonderfully done, even when we're talking about side characters. The author did a wonderful job of breathing life into his characters. For a relatively short novel, the characterization is masterfully done.

WHAT IS THE PLOT OF THIS NOVEL LIKE?

The plot of this novel is rather simple as easy to follow, as the focus is always on the inner states of its characters. There are no complicated subplots or anything like that. There are a few unexpected twists and turns perhaps but Kitty always remains the focal point. This novel basically focuses more on the profound psychological change of the main character Kitty,  than on the plot, so she's always in the focus. Other characters' fates are often not elaborated on. Moreover, there's a dose of ambiguity about this novel. If you're the kind of reader who wants all the answers served to him, you might be disappointed. 

THE PAINTED VEIL, A NOVEL BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM 5/5

I liked how this novel takes us right into one of pivotal moments in the story, and then it sorts of builds from there, showing us the origin story of the most important character in the novel- Kitty

THE NOVEL STARTS WITH LOVERS POSSIBLY CAUGHT IN THE ACT

The novel opens somewhat dramatically, with the door knob moving slowly and almost ominously. The door doesn't open, so nothing is certain. Yet is quite possible that the two lovers were practically caught in the act by Walter Fane, the wife's husband. The lovers, Kitty Fane and Charlie Townsend, demonstrate a lot of their character in those first moments. You could say that Maugham doesn't lose any time n portraying their character. Kitty is shown to be clearly scared, and Charlie is annoyed by her fear, even if he manages to hide his annoyance, the reader is informed about it. Moreover, unpleasant aspects of Charlie's character are already revealed. As a reader, you certainly can find clues that he isn't a nice person, as when for example he plans to threaten the servants and put a fear of God in them. 

She gave a startled cry.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

Notwithstanding the darkness of the shuttered room he saw her face on a sudden distraught with terror.

“Some one just tried the door.”

“Well, perhaps it was the amah, or one of the boys.”

“They never come at this time. They know I always sleep after tiffin.”

“Who else could it be?”

“Walter,” she whispered, her lips trembling.

.....

“How shall I get out?”

“You’d better wait a bit. I’ll look out and see that it’s all right.”

“It can’t possibly be Walter. He doesn’t leave the laboratory till five.”

“Who is it then?”

They spoke in whispers now. She was quaking. It occurred to him that in an emergency she would lose her head and on a sudden he felt angry with her. If it wasn’t safe why the devil had she said it was? She caught her breath and put her hand on his arm. He followed the direction of her glance. They stood facing the windows that led out on the verandah. They were shuttered and the shutters were bolted. They saw the white china knob of the handle slowly turn.

It's worth noting that there is a fair amount of ambiguity in the first chapter. We don't know much about the characters, and it's uncertain whether the lovers were truly caught in the act. Somebody turned the door knob, but the door was locked. So, it could have been the husband, but it also could have been the servant. Nothing is certain- and yet a sense of doom is so strongly felt that discovery seems certain.

THE  CAUGHT LOVERS' CONVERSATION CONTINUES TO THE SECOND CHAPTER

The first chapter ends with Charlie trying to calm down Kitty, and this conversation continues into the second chapter where Charlie continues to assure Kitty that even if it was Walter, he wouldn't do anything about it because Walter couldn't stand the scandal. Kitty lets herself be reassured. It's clear that she is very much in love with Charlie. 

“What’s to be done if it was Walter?” she asked.

“Perhaps he wouldn’t care.”

“Walter?”

Her tone was incredulous.

“It’s always struck me he was rather shy. Some men can’t bear scenes, you know. He’s got sense enough to know that there’s nothing to be gained by making a scandal. I don’t believe for a minute it was Walter, but even if it was my impression is that he’ll do nothing. I think he’ll ignore it.”

She reflected for a moment.

“He’s awfully in love with me.”

“Well, that’s all to the good. You’ll get round him.”

He gave her that charming smile of his which she had always found so irresistible. It was a slow smile which started in his clear blue eyes and travelled by perceptible degrees to his shapely mouth. He had small white even teeth. It was a very sensual smile and it made her heart melt in her body.

It's clear that in their relationship, Charlie is the one who does the talking and pulls the shots, sort of speaking, and Kitty is pretty passive, tramped by her feelings for him and blind to any of his possible flaws.

She leaned a little towards him, her dark and shining eyes gazing passionately into his, her mouth a little open with desire, and he put his arms round her. She abandoned herself with a sigh of ecstasy to their shelter.

“You know you can always count on me,” he said.

“I'm so happy with you. I wish I could make you as happy as you make me.”

IN THIRD CHAPTER, KITTY THINKS ABOUT HATEFUL IT IS THEY AREN'T FREE!

The third chapter gives you more insight into Kitty's behaviour and character. As she watches her lover leave, she hardly noticed anything else, including the area she lives in, but we learn that it's not a prestige one and that they cannot leave in a better one. It's stressed that Charlie has a figure of young man, despite being over forty. This is relevant for the story, as it will be mentioned again. Moreover, Charlie's wife Dorothy is mentioned and Kitty is sure that Charlie doesn't love her. Is Kitty right? That will be revealed later on.  In the third chapter, we get a description of Dorothy through Kitty's eye. She's not exactly an reliable narrator, so this serves more as an insight into Kitty's thoughts. However, Kitty isn't completely unreliable either. Kitty gives the readers a good insight into the colony's social structure.

Oh, how hateful it was that she wasn’t free, that they both weren’t free! She didn’t like his wife. Kitty’s wandering thoughts dwelt now for a moment on Dorothy Townsend. How unfortunate to be called Dorothy! It dated you. She was thirty-eight at least. But Charlie never spoke of her. Of course he didn’t care for her; she bored him to death. But he was a gentleman. Kitty smiled with affectionate irony: it was just like him, silly old thing; he might be unfaithful to her, but he would never allow a word in disparagement of her to cross his lips. She was a tallish woman, taller than Kitty, neither stout nor thin, with a good deal of pale brown hair; she could never have been pretty with anything but the prettiness of youth; her features were good enough without being remarkable and her blue eyes were cold. She had a skin that you would never look at twice and no colour in her cheeks. And she dressed like—well, like what she was, the wife of the Assistant Colonial Secretary at Hong-Kong. Kitty smiled and gave her shoulders a faint shrug.

Of course no one could deny that Dorothy Townsend had a pleasant voice. She was a wonderful mother, Charlie always said that of her, and she was what Kitty’s mother called a gentlewoman. But Kitty did not like her. She did not like her casual manner; and the politeness with which she treated you when you went there, to tea or dinner, was exasperating because you could not but feel how little interest she took in you. The fact was, Kitty supposed, that she cared for nothing but her children: there were two boys at school in England, and another boy of six whom she was going to take home next year. Her face was a mask. She smiled and in her pleasant, well-mannered way said the things that were expected of her; but for all her cordiality held you at a distance. She had a few intimate friends in the Colony and they greatly admired her. 

Another interesting aspect of the third chapter is a class one. It's obvious that Charlie lives in a better part of town, as is better of than Kitty. This can be felt in the way Charlie's wife Dorothy treats Kitty. It's not just that Kitty resents the fact that Charlie is married, she feels that her social statues is lower after marriage, then it was before. 

Kitty isn't happy in Hong Kong, and this is clearly expressed. She's not happy to meet Charlie in bad hotels, and she's not happy Dorothy looks down on her. Kitty remembers how at home, her mother wouldn't think much of a woman Like Dorothy. So, we see prejudice of her class playing out in her. Kitty is hurt because she's no longer on the same social lever she was before she married. However, she doesn't dwell on the fact that her mother was a social climber who saw Kitty's beauty as a way to the top, and was disappointed when Kitty didn't marry. 

Kitty wondered whether Mrs. Townsend thought her a little common. She flushed. After all there was no reason for her to put on airs. It was true that her father had been a Colonial Governor and of course it was very grand while it lasted—every one stood up when you entered a room and men took off their hats to you as you passed in your car—but what could be more insignificant than a Colonial Governor when he had retired? Dorothy Townsend’s father lived on a pension in a small house at Earl’s Court. Kitty’s mother would think it a dreadful bore if she asked her to call. Kitty’s father, Bernard Garstin, was a K.C. and there was no reason why he should not be made a judge one of these days. 

Is Kitty unhappy because she isn't getting what she wants or there is more to her? Is she perhaps possible that she is interesting in something other than a life of shallow materialism? 

THE FOURTH CHAPTER FURTHER EMPHASISES HOW MARRYING A MAN OF SCIENCE COST KITTY HER SOCIAL STATUS

The fourth chapter speaks very clearly about Kitty's unhappiness at the fact that her social position was determined by her husband's.  She even openly talks about it with her husband. When marrying Walter, Kitty didn't know how insignificant a man of science was in British society. Not that the society she came from was a class free, the British colonial Hong Kong society is a reflection of the original British one. Hong Kong British society is perhaps even more class rigid than the one in Britain, the difference being that it's even more colonial- and therefore unjust. 

Despite the fact that the job that Walter does is very important and useful, it's considered unimportant. Why? Simply because in the colony, it's the political connections that are the most important thing. Charlie and his wife are good at playing the social game, Walter isn't. Kitty's husband is a highly intelligent man, but one who isn't social at all and probably couldn't do any social climbing if he tried.  This could be also a critique of society. It's the people who know how to network and use political connections that get ahead, not those who actually do useful work for the humanity. Walter's work saves lives, and he works extremely hard, yet everyone looks down on him and Kitty in the colony. At this point, Kitty doesn't really consider Walter's work to be that important, but still she feels wronged. 

K

ITTY, coming to Hong-Kong on her marriage, had found it hard to reconcile herself to the fact that her social position was determined by her husband’s occupation. Of course every one had been very kind and for two or three months they had gone out to parties almost every night; when they dined at Government House the Governor took her in as a bride; but she had understood quickly that as the wife of the Government bacteriologist she was of no particular consequence. It made her angry.

“It’s too absurd,” she told her husband. “Why, there’s hardly any one here that one would bother about for five minutes at home. Mother wouldn’t dream of asking any of them to dine at our house.”

“You mustn’t let it worry you,” he answered. “It doesn’t really matter, you know.”

“Of course it doesn’t matter, it only shows how stupid they are, but it is rather funny when you think of all the people who used to come to our house at home that here we should be treated like dirt.”

“From a social standpoint the man of science does not exist,” he smiled.

She knew that now, but she had not known it when she married him.

Is there maybe a bit of foreshadowing here? Something to imply that Kitty always wanted freedom, even if she was unsure what that freedom meant? After all, she had had proposals and refused to accept any of them. She only married Walter because she felt her time was passed. For her marriage was the better option then remaining trapped in her home. We'll get into this later, but it's an interesting question. Wasn't Kitty in some ways always striving for independence? 

THE FIFTH CHAPTER MAKES IT OBVIOUS THAT KITTY'S HUSBAND KNOWS AND SHE BRACES HERSELF FOR THE CONFLICT

The fifth chapter gives us definite confirmation that Walter knows. Kitty finds a book with a note from V.H saying that she gave the book to doctor Fane to bring. So, it was Walter who brought the book and turned the door knob. Kitty assures herself that even if he had turned the door knob, there was nothing suspicious about her locking herself in. Finally, she braces herself for possible future conflict, feeling reassured in her love for Charlie. Kitty's feelings towards Charlie are an essential part of this novel, and will be the cause of much distress afterwards.

She shook herself a little and again she felt that sweet pain in her heart which she always felt when she thought of Charlie. It had been worth it. He had said that he would stand by her, and if the worse came to the worst, well . . . Let Walter kick up a row if he chose. She had Charlie; what did she care? Perhaps it would be the best thing for him to know. She had never cared for Walter and since she had loved Charlie Townsend it had irked and bored her to submit to her husband’s caresses. She wanted to have nothing more to do with him. She didn’t see how he could prove anything. If he accused her she would deny, and if it came to a pass that she could deny no longer, well, she would fling the truth in his teeth, and he could do what he chose.

THE SIXTH CHAPTER INTRODUCES US TO KITTY'S MOTHER AND FARGER

Kitty's mother are father are  important characters in the novel.  The sixth chapter shows Kitty observing their photographs and showing their behaviour. 

WITHIN three months of her marriage she knew that she had made a mistake; but it had been her mother’s fault even more than hers.

There was a photograph of her mother in the room and Kitty’s harassed eyes fell on it. She did not know why she kept it there, for she was not very fond of her mother; there was one of her father too, but that was downstairs on the grand piano. It had been done when he took silk and it represented him in wig and gown. Even they could not make him imposing; he was a little, wizened man, with tired eyes, a long upper lip, and a thin mouth: a facetious photographer had told him to look pleasant, but he had succeeded only in looking severe. It was on this account, for as a rule the down-turned corners of his mouth and the dejection of his eyes gave him an air of mild depression, that Mrs. Garstin, thinking it made him look judicial, had chosen it from among the proofs. But her own photograph showed her in the dress in which she had gone to Court when her husband was made a King’s Counsel. She was very grand in the velvet gown, the long train so disposed as to show to advantage, with feathers in her hair and flowers in her hand. She held herself erect. She was a woman of fifty, thin and flat-chested, with prominent cheek-bones and a large, well-shaped nose. She had a great quantity of very smooth black hair and Kitty had always suspected that, if not dyed, it was at least touched up. Her fine black eyes were never still and this was the most noticeable thing about her; for when she was talking to you it was disconcerting to see those restless eyes in that impassive, unlined and yellow face. They moved from one part of you to another, to other persons in the room, and then back to you; you felt that she was criticising you, summing you up, watchful meanwhile of all that went on around her, and that the words she spoke had no connection with her thoughts.

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER ELABORATES ON KITTY'S MOTHER

Kitty's mother is described as a rather cruel and stupid woman. Once we learn how the entire family lived under Mrs. Gastin's tyranny, we can sympathize more easily with Kitty. Kitty's father in particular fears her mother and Kitty herself never gave him any love in return, even if everything he ever did was for the benefit of their family. One can judge Kitty for that, but it's also easy to understand how being brought up by a scheming woman, Kitty never learned how to accept or give real love. In the first few chapter, we saw Kitty's mimicking her mother's views, even if she states that she doesn't like her mother, Kitty has perhaps adapted some of her ways. 

MRS. GARSTIN was a hard, cruel, managing, ambitious, parsimonious and stupid woman. She was the daughter, one of five, of a solicitor in Liverpool and Bernard Garstin had met her when he was on the Northern Circuit. He had seemed then a young man of promise and her father said he would go far. He hadn’t. He was painstaking, and capable, but he had not the will to advance himself. Mrs. Garstin despised him. But she recognised, though with bitterness, that she could only achieve success through him, and she set herself to drive him on the way she desired to go. She nagged him without mercy. She discovered that if she wanted him to do something which his sensitiveness revolted against she had only to give him no peace and eventually, exhausted, he would yield. On her side she set herself to cultivate the people who might be useful. She flattered the solicitors who would send her husband briefs and was familiar with their wives. She was obsequious to the judges and their ladies. She made much of promising politicians.

In twenty-five years Mrs. Garstin never invited any one to dine at her house because she liked him. She gave large dinner parties at regular intervals. But parsimony was as strong in her as ambition. She hated to spend money. She flattered herself that she could make as much show as any one else at half the price. Her dinners were long and elaborate, but thrifty, and she could never persuade herself that people when they were eating and talking knew what they drank. She wrapped sparkling Moselle in a napkin and thought her guests took it for champagne.

Bernard Garstin had a fair, though not a large practice. Men who had been called after him had long outstripped him. Mrs. Garstin made him stand for parliament. The expense of the election was borne by the party, but here again her parsimony balked her ambition, and she could not bring herself to spend enough money to nurse the constituency. The subscriptions Bernard Garstin made to the innumerable funds a candidate is expected to contribute to, were always just a little less than adequate. He was beaten. Though it would have pleased Mrs. Garstin to be a member’s wife she bore her disappointment with fortitude. The fact of her husband’s standing had brought her in contact with a number of prominent persons and she appreciated the addition to her social consequence. She knew that Bernard would never make his mark in the House. She wanted him to be a member only that he might have a claim on the gratitude of his party and surely to fight two or three losing seats would give him that.

But he was still a junior and many younger men than he had already taken silk. It was necessary that he should too, not only because otherwise he could scarcely hope to be made a judge, but on her account also: it mortified her to go in to dinner after women ten years younger than herself. But here she encountered in her husband an obstinacy which she had not for years been accustomed to. He was afraid that as a K.C. he would get no work. A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush, he told her, to which she retorted that a proverb was the last refuge of the mentally destitute. He suggested to her the possibility that his income would be halved and he knew that there was no argument which could have greater weight with her. She would not listen. She called him pusillanimous. She gave him no peace and at last, as always, he yielded. He applied for silk and it was promptly awarded him.

I found this seventh chapter to be quite telling. It explains a lot about Kitty's childhood and upbringing. Kitty has grown up with a mother who has only taken and taken, without giving anything in return. Kitty's mother can be described as a narcissistic, and who does Kitty fall in love with? Soon the reader will find out what kind of man Kitty's lover is. 

THE EIGHT CHAPTER EXPLAINS HOW KITTY MARRIED WALTER IN PANIC

Kitty's mother was relentlessly persistent  in her pursuit of high social standing. She managed to give appearances of living better than they did, and never stopped to rest. Kitty must have learned from her that appearances are everything. Disappointed in her husband's lack of ambition, Mrs. Garstlin saw Kitty as a way to the top. She wanted to use Kitty's beauty to attract a brilliant match. 

 But it was on her daughters that she set her hopes. By arranging good marriages for them she expected to make up for all the disappointments of her career. There were two, Kitty and Doris. Doris gave no sign of good looks, her nose was too long and her figure was lumpy; so that Mrs. Garstin could hope no more for her than that she should marry a young man who was well off and in a suitable profession.

But Kitty was a beauty. She gave promise of being so when she was still a child, for she had large, dark eyes, liquid and vivacious, brown, curling hair in which there was a reddish tint, exquisite teeth and a lovely skin. Her features would never be very good, for her chin was too square and her nose, though not so long as Doris’s, too big. Her beauty depended a good deal on her youth, and Mrs. Garstin realised that she must marry in the first flush of her maidenhood. When she came out she was dazzling: her skin was still her greatest beauty, but her eyes with their long lashes were so starry and yet so melting that it gave you a catch at the heart to look into them. She had a charming gaiety and the desire to please. Mrs. Garstin bestowed upon her all the affection, a harsh, competent, calculating affection, of which she was capable; she dreamed ambitious dreams; it was not a good marriage she aimed at for her daughter, but a brilliant one.

Kitty doesn't seem to mind her mother's wishes, but when years pass and the perfect candidate isn't found, Kitty gets to feel her mother's hate. Her mother is not the time to hold back when expressing her dissatisfaction. 

Mrs. Garstin began to grow uneasy. She noticed that Kitty was beginning to attract men of forty and over. She reminded her that she would not be any longer so pretty in a year or two and that young girls were coming out all the time. Mrs. Garstin did not mince her words in the domestic circle and she warned her daughter tartly that she would miss her market.

Kitty shrugged her shoulders She thought herself as pretty as ever, prettier perhaps, for she had learnt how to dress in the last four years, and she had plenty of time. If she wanted to marry just to be married there were a dozen boys who would jump at the chance. Surely the right man would come along sooner or later. But Mrs. Garstin judged the situation more shrewdly: with anger in her heart for the beautiful daughter who had missed her chances she set her standard a little lower. She turned back to the professional class at which she had sneered in her pride and looked about for a young lawyer or a business man whose future inspired her with confidence.

Kitty reached the age of twenty-five and was still unmarried. Mrs. Garstin was exasperated and she did not hesitate often to give Kitty a piece of her very unpleasant mind. She asked her how much longer she expected her father to support her. He had spent sums he could ill afford in order to give her a chance and she had not taken it. It never struck Mrs. Garstin that perhaps her own hard affability had frightened the men, sons of wealthy fathers or heirs to a title, whose visits she had too cordially encouraged. She put down Kitty’s failure to stupidity. Then Doris came out. She had a long nose still, and a poor figure, and she danced badly. In her first season she became engaged to Geoffrey Dennison. He was the only son of a prosperous surgeon who had been given a baronetcy during the war. Geoffrey would inherit a title—it is not very grand to be a medical baronet, but a title, thank God, is still a title—and a very comfortable fortune.

Kitty in a panic married Walter Fane.

THE NINTH CHAPTER LET US IN ON HOW WALTER FANE AND KITTY'S EARLY RELATIONSHIP

The ninth chapter describes how this unhappy marriage came to be. Kitty didn't suspect that doctor Walter Fane plans to propose to her. She was as cordial with him as everyone. Kitty is described as being friendly, sweet and polite with everyone, and with men perhaps often flirty, so it's not surprising that even unsocial Walter took a liking to her.

If we look at the young Kitty, she's certainly superficial and spoiled, but in some ways, she's still different from her mother. Kitty seems to have a touch of tenderness around her, even if she is not exactly deeply emphatic, she does feel for others to a degree. Certainly, she doesn't feel much for Walter, but she is still moved by his proposal. 

In Kitty, there exists at least a potential to feel and to become a more well rounded human being, as superficial as she might be. Taking her upbringing into consideration, it is easy to understand some of her 'spoiled' behaviour. 

She did not know why he came to dances, he did not dance very well, and he seemed to know few people. She had a passing thought that he was in love with her; but she dismissed it with a shrug of the shoulders: she had known girls who thought every man they met was in love with them and had always found them absurd. But she gave Walter Fane just a little more of her attention. He certainly did not behave like any of the other youths who had been in love with her. Most of them told her so frankly and wanted to kiss her: a good many did. But Walter Fane never talked of her and very little of himself. He was rather silent; she did not mind that because she had plenty to say and it pleased her to see him laugh when she made a facetious remark; but when he talked it was not stupidly. He was evidently shy. It appeared that he lived in the East and was home on leave.

One Sunday afternoon he appeared at their house in South Kensington. There were a dozen people there, and he sat for some time, somewhat ill at case, and then went away. Her mother asked her later who he was.

“I haven’t a notion. Did you ask him to come here?”

“Yes, I met him at the Baddeleys. He said he’d seen you at various dances. I said I was always at home on Sundays.”

“His name is Fane and he’s got some sort of job in the East.”

“Yes, he’s a doctor. Is he in love with you?”

“Upon my word, I don’t know.”

“I should have thought you knew by now when a young man was in love with you.”

“I wouldn’t marry him if he were,” said Kitty lightly.

Mrs. Garstin did not answer. Her silence was heavy with displeasure. Kitty flushed: she knew that her mother did not care now whom she married so long as somehow she got her off her hands.

The chapter ends with Kitty understanding that her mother wants to be rid of her, and I imagine it must have been a painful feeling for Kitty. Most narcissist choose a golden child to project their hopes on, and when it disappoints them, as everyone always does, the verbal abuse is sure to follow. One can easily get the idea that this is what was happening in Kitty's home and that she was in fact oblivious of what normal family life should look like, with parents who actually care for their children. 

THE TENTH CHAPTER HAS KITTY'S FATHER INQURING ABOUT WALTER

In the tenth chapter, Kitty has a talk about Walter with her father. This is significant as her father is described as a kind man, but enabler, suffering under her mother's rule.  It seems that her father has taken a liking to Walter, even though he usually does not pay attention to her admirers, but Kitty says that Walter irritates her a little. We learn that it is because Walter has no gaiety, a characteristic Kitty finds important. In reality Kitty and Walter are quite different. In ninth chapter we saw how Kitty appreciates some things about Walter, but it becomes clear that she doesn't really want to marry him.

On the following Sunday he came again to their house. Her father happened to come in, it was raining and he had not been able to play golf, and he and Walter Fane had a long chat. She asked her father afterwards what they had talked of.

“It appears he’s stationed in Hong-Kong. The Chief Justice is an old friend of mine at the Bar. He seems an unusually intelligent young man.”

She knew that her father was as a rule bored to death by the young people whom for her sake and now her sister’s he had been forced for years to entertain.

“It’s not often you like any of my young men, father,” she said.

His kind, tired eyes rested upon her.

“Are you going to marry him by any chance?”

“Certainly not.”

“Is he in love with you?”

“He shows no sign of it.”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t think I do very much. He irritates me a little.”

He was not her type at all. He was short, but not thick-set, slight rather and thin; dark and clean-shaven, with very regular, clear-cut features. His eyes were almost black, but not large, they were not very mobile and they rested on objects with a singular persistence; they were curious, but not very pleasant eyes. With his straight, delicate nose, his fine brow and well-shaped mouth he ought to have been good-looking. But surprisingly enough he was not. When Kitty began to think of him at all she was surprised that he should have such good features when you took them one by one and yet be so far from handsome. His face was cold. His expression was slightly sarcastic and now that Kitty knew him better she realised that she was not quite at ease with him. He had no gaiety.

However, at the end of the chapter Kitty finds out that her sister is getting married and naturally she feels the pressure to do the same. Surely enough, in the next chapter she accepts Walter's wedding proposal. One must understand that a girl of her position there wasn't much to do expect get married.

THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER DESCRIBES HOW KITTY ACCEPTED WALTER'S PROPOSAL

Kitty doesn't love Walter, but at one moment she almost likes him, and that's when she realizes he isn't cold, he's just odd. So, it seems that Kitty is aware that Walter loves her, so the question remains does it make it better or worse that she accepts his proposal knowing that she doesn't feel the same? Kitty doesn't do it exactly from charity or tenderness of heart, she's trying to escape the hatred of her mother. 

“I’m awfully stupid,” he said, “I want to tell you that I love you more than anything in the world, but I find it so awfully difficult to say.”

Now that was odd too, for inexplicably enough it touched her; he wasn’t really cold, of course, it was his manner that was unfortunate: she liked him at that moment better than she had ever liked him before. Doris was to be married in November. He would be on his way to China then and if she married him she would be with him. It wouldn’t be very nice to be a bridesmaid at Doris’s wedding. She would be glad to escape that. And then Doris as a married woman and herself still single! Every one knew how young Doris was and it would make her seem older. It would put her on the shelf. It wouldn’t be a very good marriage for her, but it was a marriage, and the fact that she would live in China made it easier. She was afraid of her mother’s bitter tongue. Why, all the girls who had come out with her were married long ago and most of them had children; she was tired of going to see them and gushing over their babies. Walter Fane offered her a new life. She turned to him with a smile which she well knew the effect of.

“If I were so rash as to say I’d marry you when would you want to marry me?”

He gave a sudden gasp of delight, and his white cheeks flushed.

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER DESCRIBES THE DYNAMICS OF KITTY AND WALTER'S MARRIAGE

It is clear that Walter is in love with Kitty, but after two years of marriage she still feels like she doesn't know him. She does have some nice things to say about him, and even if it is the third narrator describing them both, it's clear that Kitty has taken note of Walter's emotions. 

SHE knew him very little then, and now, though they had been married for nearly two years, she knew him but little more. At first she had been touched by his kindness and flattered, though surprised, by his passion. He was extremely considerate; he was very attentive to her comfort; she never expressed the slightest wish without his hastening to gratify it. He was constantly giving her little presents. When she happened to feel ill no one could have been kinder or more thoughtful. She seemed to do him a favour when she gave him the opportunity of doing something tiresome for her. And he was always exceedingly polite. He rose to his feet when she entered a room, he gave her his hand to help her out of a car, if he chanced to meet her in the street he took off his hat, he was solicitous to open the door for her when she left a room, he never came into her bedroom or her boudoir without a knock. He treated her not as Kitty had seen most men treat their wives, but as though she were a fellow-guest in a country house. It was pleasing and yet a trifle comic. She would have felt more at home with him if he had been more casual. Nor did their conjugal relations draw her closer to him.

Kitty and Walter have very different personalities, though. Sometimes one sided love just isn't enough to make a marriage work.

Kitty was lively; she was willing to chatter all day long and she laughed easily. His silence disconcerted her. He had a way which exasperated her of returning no answer to some casual remark of hers. It was true that it needed no answer, but an answer all the same would have been pleasant. If it was raining and she said: “It’s raining cats and dogs,” she would have liked him to say: “Yes, isn’t it?” He remained silent. Sometimes she would have liked to shake him.

“I said it was raining cats and dogs,” she repeated.

“I heard you,” he answered, with his affectionate smile.

It showed that he had not meant to be offensive. He did not speak because he had nothing to say. But if nobody spoke unless he had something to say, Kitty reflected, with a smile, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech.

THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER SHOWS THAT KITTY SHOWED AN INTEREST IN HIS WORK

What I found interesting is that Kitty does show some interest in Walter's work, meaning that she's isn't as shallow as she might seem. True, maybe she does it out of loneliness and need for conversation, but you cannot say she made no effort to get to know her husband and his work. 

I also cannot but wonder at the nature of Walter's love. It's constantly established how much he loves and adores Kitty, but what kind of love it is? Is it a healthy type of love or a romantic obsession? He doesn't try to make her a part of her world, to take her in to talk to her as an equal. Certainly Walter wants to make Kitty happy by fulfilling her wishes, but is that really the way? Is that how a mature marriage works? It seems at times, he doesn't know what to do with her, and neither does she know what to do with him.

Neither of them is a bad person per se. Walter is a bit closed up and Kitty is a bit superficial, but they are not terrible people. However, they're clearly not making each other happy and trouble is on horizont. 

The fact was, of course, that he had no charm. That was why he was not popular, and she had not been long in Hong-Kong before she discovered that he was not. He remained very vague about his work. It was enough for her to realise, and she did this quite distinctly, that to be the government bacteriologist was no great fry. He seemed to have no desire to discuss that part of his life with her. Because she was willing to be interested in anything at first she had asked him about it. He put her off with a jest.

“It’s very dull and technical,” he said on another occasion. “And it’s grossly underpaid.”

He was very reserved. All she knew about his antecedents, his birth, his education, and his life before he met her, she had elicited by direct questioning. It was odd, the only thing that seemed to annoy him was a question; and when, in her natural curiosity, she fired a string of them at him, his answers became at every one more abrupt. She had the wit to see that he did not care to reply because he had anything to hide from her, but merely from a natural secretiveness. It bored him to talk about himself. It made him shy and uncomfortable. He did not know how to be open. He was fond of reading, but he read books which seemed to Kitty very dull. If he was not busy with some scientific treatise he would read books about China or historical works. He never relaxed. She did not think he could. 

THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER DETAILS HOW CHARLIE AND KITTY MET

The fourteenth chapter continues the journey back in time, detailing how Charlie and Kitty met. Walter described him as a man that doesn't interest him, but Kitty found Charlie's charm hard to resist and seemed happy he has taken a liking to her. 

She could not but know that she had made an impression on him. If he had not said charming things to her his eyes, warm with admiration, would have betrayed him. His ease was delightful. He had no self-consciousness. Kitty was at home in these circumstances and she admired the way in which amid the banter which was the staple of their conversation he insinuated every now and then a pretty, flattering speech. When she shook hands with him on leaving he gave her hand a pressure that she could not mistake.

“I hope we shall see you again soon,” he said casually, but his eyes gave his words a meaning which she could not fail to see.

“Hong-Kong is very small, isn’t it?” she said.

THE FIFTEEENTH CHAPTER REVEALS KITTY SURPRISED THAT AFFAIR HAS LEFT HER FEELING AS THE SAME WOMAN SHE HAS BEEN BEFORE

Kitty marvels at the fact that it took only three months for her and Charlie to be on such intimate terms. She feels nothing for Walter now, and is only perhaps oddly grateful to him because without him, she wouldn't have known Walter. 

And when Charlie became her lover the situation between herself and Walter seemed exquisitely absurd. She could hardly look at him, so grave and self-controlled, without laughing. She was too happy to feel unkindly towards him. Except for him, after all, she would never have known Charlie. She had hesitated some time before the final step, not because she did not want to yield to Charlie’s passion, her own was equal to his, but because her upbringing and all the conventions of her life intimidated her. She was amazed afterwards (and the final act was due to accident; neither of them had seen the opportunity till it was face to face with them) to discover that she felt in no way different from what she had before. She had expected that it would cause some, she hardly knew what, fantastic change in her so that she would feel like somebody else; and when she had a chance to look at herself in the glass she was bewildered to see the same woman she had seen the day before.

THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER DESCRIBES KITTY AT THE HEIGHT OF HER BEAUTY AS A WOMAN IN LOVE

Kitty has regained the beauty of her youth, and she feels content loving Charlie and believing him to be a wonderful man. 

 She was like a rosebud that is beginning to turn yellow at the edges of the petals, and then suddenly she was a rose in full bloom. Her starry eyes gained a more significant expression; her skin (that feature which had always been her greatest pride and most anxious care) was dazzling: it could not be compared to the peach or to the flower; it was they that demanded comparison with it. She looked eighteen once more. She was at the height of her glowing loveliness. It was impossible not to remark it and her women friends asked her in little friendly asides if she was going to have a baby. The indifferent who had said she was just a very pretty woman with a long nose admitted that they had misjudged her. She was what Charlie had called her first time he saw her, a raging beauty.

THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTERS FINDS KITTY CONVIENCING HERSELF THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE AND THAT WALTER WOULD GIVE HER A DIVORCE

Maugham started the story with the first two chapters describing lovers discovered by the husband who doesn't show himself so the discovery itself remains ambiguous. For the next sixteenth chapters, the author has digressed in the past, telling us more about Kitty, Walter, Charlie and their relationships to one another. Kitty's past in particular was examined in detail, and her romantic story with Walter and Charlie enfold. 

As the seventeenth chapters starts, Kitty experiences several mood shifts as she tries to convince herself that Walter will give her a divorce and that everything will be fine. Still, Kitty is anxious, perhaps sensing what is to come. 

But through all these day-dreams ran a current of apprehension. It was funny: it was as though the wood and the strings of an orchestra played Arcadian melodies and in the bass the drums, softly but with foreboding, beat a grim tatoo. Sooner or later Walter must come home and her heart beat fast at the thought of meeting him. It was strange that he had gone away that afternoon without saying a word to her. Of course she was not frightened of him; after all what could he do, she repeated to herself; but she could not quite allay her uneasiness. Once more she repeated what she would say to him. What was the good of making a scene? She was very sorry, Heaven knew she didn’t want to cause him pain, but she couldn’t help it if she didn’t love him. It was no good pretending and it was always better to tell the truth. She hoped he wouldn’t be unhappy, but they had made a mistake and the only sensible thing was to acknowledge it. She would always think kindly of him.

But even as she said this to herself a sudden gust of fear made the sweat start out in the palms of her hands. And because she was frightened she grew angry with him.

HOWEVER, THE FIRST 22  CHAPTERS ARE ONLY AN INTRODUCTION AND THE PLOT REALLY STARTS TO ENFOLD IN CHAPTER 23

Kitty's confrontation with her husband doesn't go as she plans. There's a bit of foreshadowing as she struggles to stay on her feet, indicating her distress. However, nothing much happens, they don't really talk, and in nineteenth chapter Kitty calls Charlie who isn't impressed with her complaints.  In twentieth chapter Kitty meets with Walter and he reassures her once again. In chapter 21, Kitty realizes that her husband's eyes are filled with mortal sadness. As a reader, I felt that there's an indication of something terrible happening.

It happened that just then the women on either side of him were talking with their neighbours and he was left alone. He was staring straight in front of him, forgetful of the party, and his eyes were filled with a mortal sadness. It gave Kitty a shock.

THE CHAPTER 23 IS THE ONE DIVORCE AND CHOLERA ARE FINALLY MENTIONED

The story starts to enfold in the next chapter. Firstly, Water surprises Kitty when he announces that he is going to an area where cholera virus is active in hope of saving lives. Kitty pleads with Walter not to do that, and is positively shocked when he suggests that she accompanies him. I found her fear of cholera understandable, and I think it's interesting that she doesn't want her husband to risk her life- something that could be an elegant solution of her unhappy marriage. Does it mean that she cares for him? I don't think she cared that much at that point, but she shows a degree of human concern. At any rate, Kitty certainly doesn't want Walter to die. His stance towards her is odd for sure, Walter is being purposely cold, even mocking of her and we can imagine it's a great shock for Kitty. 

“Is that necessary?” she faltered.

“There’s not a foreign doctor in the place.”

“But you’re not a doctor, you’re a bacteriologist.”

“I am an M.D., you know, and before I specialised I did a good deal of general work in a hospital. The fact that I’m first and foremost a bacteriologist is all to the good. It will be an admirable chance for research work.”

He spoke almost flippantly and when she glanced at him she was surprised to see in his eyes a gleam of mockery. She could not understand.

“But won’t it be awfully dangerous?”

“Awfully.”

He smiled. It was a derisive grimace. She leaned her forehead on her hand. Suicide. It was nothing short of that. Dreadful! She had not thought he would take it like that. She couldn’t let him do that. It was cruel. It was not her fault if she did not love him. She couldn’t bear the thought that he should kill himself for her sake. Tears flowed softly down her cheeks.

“What are you crying for?”

His voice was cold.

“You’re not obliged to go, are you?”

“No, I go of my own free will.”

“Please don’t, Walter. It would be too awful if something happened. Supposing you died?”

Though his face remained impassive the shadow of a smile once more crossed his eyes. He did not answer.

“Where is this place?” she asked after a pause.

“Mei-tan-fu? It’s on a tributary of the Western River. We should go up the Western River and then by chair.”

“Who is we?”

“You and I.”

She looked at him quickly. She thought she had heard amiss. But now the smile in his eyes had travelled to his lips. His dark eyes were fixed on her.

“Are you expecting me to come too?”

“I thought you’d like to.”

Her breath began to come very fast. A shudder passed through her.

“But surely it’s no place for a woman. The missionary sent his wife and children down weeks ago and the A. P. C. man and his wife came down. I met her at a tea-party. I’ve just remembered that she said they left some place on account of cholera.”

“There are five French nuns there.”

Panic seized her.

“I don’t know what you mean. It would be madness for me to go. You know how delicate I am. Dr. Hayward said I must get out of Hong-Kong on account of the heat. I could never stand the heat up there. And cholera: I should be frightened out of my wits. It’s just asking for trouble. There’s no reason for me to go. I should die.”

He did not answer. She looked at him in her desperation and she could hardly restrain a cry. His face had a sort of black pallor which suddenly terrified her. She saw in it a look of hatred. Was it possible that he wanted her to die? She answered her own outrageous thought.

“It’s absurd. If you think you ought to go it’s your own lookout. But really you can’t expect me to. I hate illness. A cholera epidemic. I don’t pretend to be very brave and I don’t mind telling you that I haven’t pluck for that. I shall stay here until it’s time for me to go to Japan.”

“I should have thought that you would want to accompany me when I am about to set out on a dangerous expedition.”

He was openly mocking her now. She was confused. She did not quite know whether he meant what he said or was merely trying to frighten her.

“I don’t think any one could reasonably blame me for refusing to go to a dangerous place where I had no business or where I could be of no use.”

“You could be of the greatest use; you could cheer and comfort me.”

She grew even a little paler.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I shouldn’t have thought it needed more than average intelligence.”

“I’m not going, Walter. It’s monstrous to ask me.”

“Then I shall not go either. I shall immediately file my petition.”

THE STORY REALLY STARTS WHEN WALTER GIVES KITTY AN ULTUMATUM - A SHAMEFUL RETURN TO HER HOME OR RISKING HER LIFE IN A CHOLERA INFESTED AREA

In chapter 23, Water threatens divorce and their conversation continues into the next chapter. In chapter 24, they are both talking from a place of pain and trying to outdo one another in attempts to offend one another. The things they say one to another are true, but if truth hurts, the way they are handling that truth seems to make it hurt more. In some ways they are both victims, she of her circumstances and he of his obsession with her. However, they are also at fault at many things. Neither of them has really insisted on an honest conversation with one another before. With better communication, perhaps things could have played out differently for these two. Walter is very passive in their conversation, showing that he understood everything from the start, and at the same time insulting her, causing Kitty to become increasingly mad. 

“Do you know why I married you?”

“Because you wanted to be married before your sister Doris.”

It was true, but it gave her a funny little turn to realise that he knew it. Oddly enough, even in that moment of fear and anger, it excited her compassion. He faintly smiled.

“I had no illusions about you,” he said. “I knew you were silly and frivolous and empty-headed. But I loved you. I knew that your aims and ideals were vulgar and commonplace. But I loved you. I knew that you were second-rate. But I loved you. It’s comic when I think how hard I tried to be amused by the things that amused you and how anxious I was to hide from you that I wasn’t ignorant and vulgar and scandal-mongering and stupid. I knew how frightened you were of intelligence and I did everything I could to make you think me as big a fool as the rest of the men you knew. I knew that you’d only married me for convenience. I loved you so much, I didn’t care. Most people, as far as I can see, when they’re in love with some one and the love isn’t returned feel that they have a grievance. They grow angry and bitter. I wasn’t like that. I never expected you to love me, I didn’t see any reason that you should, I never thought myself very lovable. I was thankful to be allowed to love you and I was enraptured when now and then I thought you were pleased with me or when I noticed in your eyes a gleam of good-humoured affection. I tried not to bore you with my love; I knew I couldn’t afford to do that and I was always on the lookout for the first sign that you were impatient with my affection. What most husbands expect as a right I was prepared to receive as a favor.”

Kitty, accustomed to flattery all her life, had never heard such things said to her before. Blind wrath, driving out fear, arose in her heart: it seemed to choke her, and she felt the blood-vessels in her temples swell and throb. Wounded vanity can make a woman more vindictive than a lioness robbed of her cubs. Kitty’s jaw, always a little too square, protruded with an apish hideousness and her beautiful eyes were black with malice. But she kept her temper in check.

“If a man hasn’t what’s necessary to make a woman love him, it’s his fault, not hers.”

“Evidently.”

His derisive tone increased her irritation. She felt that she could wound him more by maintaining her calm.

“I’m not very well-educated and I’m not very clever. I’m just a perfectly ordinary young woman. I like the things that the people like among whom I’ve lived all my life. I like dancing and tennis and theatres and I like the men who play games. It’s quite true that I’ve always been bored by you and by the things you like. They mean nothing to me and I don’t want them to. You dragged me round those interminable galleries in Venice: I should have enjoyed myself much more playing golf at Sandwich.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry if I haven’t been all that you expected me to be. Unfortunately I always found you physically repulsive. You can hardly blame me for that.”

“I don’t.”

Kitty could more easily have coped with the situation if he had raved and stormed. She could have met violence with violence. His self-control was inhuman and she hated him now as she had never hated him before.

Walter promises to grant her divorce if Charlie's wife Dorothy's agrees to divorce him, but little does she know that it is a cruel joke on his part. Walter is aware that Charlie doesn't love Kitty, and that he has no desire to marry her. Kitty is the one who is going to be played fool now. 

“I think I’ve said all I had to say: if you refuse to come to Mei-tan-fu I shall file my petition.”

“Why won’t you consent to let me divorce you?”

He took his eyes off her at last. He leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette. He smoked it to the end without saying a word. Then, throwing away the butt, he gave a little smile. He looked at her once more.

“If Mrs. Townsend will give me her assurance that she will divorce her husband and if he will give me his written promise to marry you within a week of the two decrees being made absolute, I will do that.”

There was something in the way he spoke which disconcerted her. But her self-respect obliged her to accept his offer in the grand manner.

“That is very generous of you, Walter.”

To her astonishment he burst suddenly into a shout of laughter. She flushed angrily.

“What are you laughing at? I see nothing to laugh at.”

“I beg your pardon. I daresay my sense of humour is peculiar.”

KITTY EMBARKS ON A JOURNEY OF  SELF-DISCOVERY AND THIS IS THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THE NOVEL

Once she is rejected by her lover Walter, Kitty is hearth-broken. She cannot really justify her affair with love anymore. If it was never love, what kind of woman does it make her? Surely, Kitty is shamed. She also marvels at her husband's cruelty. She's been played a fool, and perhaps she feels like she deserved it. 

“I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I know that you haven't the nerve of a rabbit, I know you're a liar and a humbug, I know that you're utterly contemptible. And the tragic part is'--her face was on a sudden distraught with pain--'the tragic part is that notwithstanding I love you with all my heart.”

Kitty is left with a choice, either follow Walter into the midst of cholera epidemic or let Walter file for divorce on charges of infidelity. Both choices are quite hard ones to make. Kitty must feel alone in the world. 

Now, I won't disclose what she decided, but either way, she finds herself in a difficult situation and needs to grow from that. In one day, she has lost both a lover who claimed to have loved her and whom she believed, and a husband who was kind and caring. Even if she stays with Walter, it's certain he will not be taking care of her the way he was before. It's not certain he wants to be with at all. It doesn't seem like he has an inclination to forgive her. Rather it seems like Walter wants to punish her- and even possibly kill her. Him bringing Kitty into a cholera epidemic might be his way of killing her. Maybe he hopes to kill his love for her. However, nothing is certain. 

Heart-broken Kitty perhaps understands Walter better now, but it doesn't mean she shares his emotions. Perhaps returning home would be a better option for her. 

KITTY IS FASCINATED BY THE NOUNS WHO SPEND THEIR LIVES CARING FOR OTHERS

Without explaining what Kitty decides, to return home, or to go with Walter, I will say she embarks on a personal journey. Her personal identity is shattered. She needs to rebuild herself from sktrach. She needs to work out her feelings for Charlie. Even while she realizes that Charlie is a hateful man, Kitty still loves him. I found this very interesting. Why is so hard to let go of her emotions? Is it because it was really the first time she was in love?

Anyway, on her personal journey, Kitty becomes acquainted with some nouns that devote all their loves to others. This fascinates her, as does their life of asepticism. Having come from a material world where appearances and everything and social climbing/ networking is the meaning of love, Kitty starts to question her early life. The novel asks some interesting question here about religion, the meaning of life and so on. 

“Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.”

SHE MAKES A NEW FRIEND- AND IS FASCINATED BY HIS LOVER WHO IS A MANCHU PRINCESS

Kitty also meets a fascinating philosophical British man who seems to be into Taoism. He becomes her only friend. She learns that he lives with a young woman, whose family are descendant of Chinese royal family. He helped them get away from trouble, and the lady has followed him ever since, refusing to be sent away.  I love how Kitty when she meets his lover, a runaway Manchu princess, she is impressed by her culture.

I love this meeting because it shows Kitty in awe of this Chinese 'great lady' as he describes her. It's also a moment when Kitty realizes her own colonial prejudice and perhaps grasps something of the richness of the Chinese culture. That was a beautiful moment.

“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.”
W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

THE ENDING OF THE NOVEL WAS DEEPLY TOUCHING 

I cannot discuss what happens in the novel after Kitty's husband's ultimatum, but a lot happens. This novel is quite quick paced. There are some deaths- and a few unexpected twists and turns. The ending, however, is fantastic. 

Kitty makes a choice that proves she has become a mature young woman who sees others as human beings. She is interested neither in social climbing nor material things, rather she wants to establish genuine human connections.

I also have to add that the emphasis in this novel is never on a romantic story. It's always on Kitty as a person. I simply loved that, but if you're looking for a romance you'd be disappointed. 

CONCLUSION - THIS NOVEL IS WORTHY OF A REREAD

This is a fantastic work of psychological realism. It's so good it's worth a reread.  I kind of reread it today while I was writing this review and I'm sure I will read it again. The plot is simple but engaging, and the psychological portrayal of its female protagonist is really phenomenal. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys a fine classic!

IF YOU ENJOYED MY BOOK REVIEW, YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY THE FOLLOWING REVIEWS OF KNOWN CLASSICS FEATURING SIMILAR THEME OF AN EXTRA-MARTIAL LOVE!

1) ANNA KARENINA BY L. N.TOLSTOY

Rightfully called a classic,  Anna Karenina both a touching psychological portrayal and a social commentary of its time. Anna Karenina is not only one of Tolstoy's best known works, it's one of best known novels of all times. It regularly ends on 'best novels' and 'must read'  lists. 

What makes it similar to The Painted Veil is the theme of adultery. Both heroines are married out of duty before they experience their first love. Both of them experience love through an extra-martial affair. Both of them are portrayed sympathetically. 

2) MADAME BOVARY BY GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

Another novel that focuses on a young adulteress, Madame Bovary is a timeless classic that can boost with a phenomenal psychological analyses of its protagonist. A good book is like good wine, it only gets better with time. There is hardly a textbook that doesn't reference this great novel.

3) AWAKENING BY KATE CHOPIN

Published in 1899, this novel was a forerunner in many ways. Chopin crafted one of the early works of feminism, when she wrote the story of Edna, a young woman experiencing ‘awakening’. By creating a literary heroine who is undergoing spiritual, psychological, emotional and sexual awakening, Chopin challenged not only the social views of her time, but social identity as such. Moreover, I do believe that The Awakening is neither reserved for one (female) gender, nor a strictly feminist book, for it can be read as an individual search for personal identity and freedom. 

4) THE DEVIL IN THE FLASH BY RAYMOND RADIGUET

Having died when only 20 years of age, Raymond had managed to leave an impressive literary legacy . He was a celebrity in his time and he is still considered as one of the important French writers of that period.  This novel tells a story of a sixteen year old that falls in love and has an affair with a married woman (who is nineteen herself so in a way she is still a girl too). The story is set in the time of the first world war and it was published shortly after it. It caused a scandal when it was published. I doubt that this novel would raise any eyebrows today.  There are no explicit or graphic scenes in the novel, but it does talk about adultery quite openly and at that time that was shocking.  Is it a bit reminiscent of Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary? I would say yes, the female protagonist does make me think of Anna for more reasons than one. 

5) THE LADY WITH A LITTLE DOG BY A. CHEKHOV

 I'd have to agree with Nabokov in that this is one of the greatest short stories ever written. The Lady With the Dog breaks all the rules of short story form, but breaks them wonderfully. There is no plot in this story, is there? No resolution at the end. A simple narrative of two characters falling in love despite the best of their efforts. In many ways, The Lady with the Dog feels like a novel. The principal characters are as beautifully complex as the most successfully portrayed protagonists of best classical novels. Here we basically have a highly believable story about two individuals transformed by love. If that is not writing magic, I don't know what is. This is definitely one of the best love stories I have ever read, perhaps even the best one. These two technically commit adultery, but really they find love. 

Thank you for reading and visiting!