Author: W. Somerset Maugham
Genre: Classic, Historical Fiction
About the Book: 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. (from Goodreads)My thoughts: Had I not listened to this book on audio, I am not sure that I would have finished it. I am really glad that I did though as it was not what I expected. The description above says that Kitty was love-starved, but I believe that her husband loved her very much before the affair. She just did not love him but had married him so as not to become an old maid. She had been too choosy when she was younger and all of her friends were married and suddenly she felt left behind. Though her husband forced her to accompany him into the cholera epidemic, it is here that she learns to love herself, if not him. I liked the way that the book just sort of stripped away everything that she knew and forced her to reevaluate those choices that she had made. It was really rather heartbreaking in the end.
