The House of Doors

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From the bestselling, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Garden of Evening Mists, a spellbinding novel about love and betrayal, colonialism and revolution, storytelling and redemption. Told from both perspectives, the plot envisions Maugham’s visit in 1921. He has just discovered that a poor investment decision has left him pretty much broke. He’s desperate to write his next book and is searching for a topic. Lesley tells him the story of her friend, who was convicted of murdering a man with whom she was having an affair. The fact that it’s told by Lesley to Willie reduces some of the impact, being told as a secondhand account.

Set in two main time lines, in tropical Penang and KL a woman reveals a story of her past to William Somerset Maugham. Based around some real characters and events, it's a story within a story. It begins and ends in Doornfontein, South Africa in 1947.... with Lesley Hamlin as our narrator. She and Robert moved into a modest bungalow on the property of Robert’s cousin, Bernard, who was a sheep farmer. It was an adjustment for Lesley and Robert …… This, for me, was a beautiful piece of historical fiction. I've read several Maugham books and stories over the years and for some reason it never occurred to me that they were loosely based on people he'd met. This book, in a way, is an homage to Maugham. It involves stories of love and devotion - both real and fictional. Tan Twen Eng manages to evoke a feeling of the last century and its attitudes to homosexuality, adultery and male dominance. One of the standouts is the friendship that grows between Lesley and Willie. Lesley confides about her life in the straits — more than she thought she would tell him. And it was more than Willie expected to hear. Lesley had a personal connection to the Chinese revolutionary, Sun Yet Sen. …. Lesley missed her garden — the trees she planted - flowers, shrubs, their high ceilings in Cassowary House, her old busy life of the different committees she was on, but with time, she did adjust realizing she no longer cared about those things.One could argue that these nods are intentional – the writing leaning on Somerset Maugham’s, the romantic subplot leaning on the traditions of Victorian fiction – but unfortunately these factors hampered my immersion in the story.

I am always excited about a book that's about real people, and Eng's newest is a book about W. Somerset Maugham. It helps that I'm already a fan of Maugham's work and have read four or five of his novels, I don't know what this would read like if you haven't read any of his work or know much about him; but I tell a lie, because the book isn't really about Maugham at all. Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary who served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China). He was exiled in Penang not long before he managed to assist to the fall of the Qing dynasty rule. I do not want to divulge much of the plot, so I only want to say that Lesley will become a supporter of the movement. Also, she is the best friend of the white woman accused of murdering a man. Both events ant the drama that follows are well written, and I appreciated the change in timelines. From his previous novel I noticed that the authors likes to play with different timelines and it is a skill he masters well. It is a novel about love, betrayal, hope, murder, lies and hate.

With a fascinating storyline, ‘The House of Doors’ was also beautifully written, here’s just a small example - “So I remained here, a daub of paint worked by time’s paintbrush into this vast, eternal landscape”. In addition, the author’s descriptions of Penang are stunning, making the landscape almost a character in itself. Highly recommended.

Just before reading this, since it centers around Maugham's composition of the short story (and subsequent stage adaptation of) The Letter, I not only read both of those, but also rewatched the 1940 Bette Davis film adaptation - and would strongly suggest doing at least one of those before attempting to read this. It feels just as exciting as the first and second time, because each book is different, and each longlist is different. But there’s more intense social media attention now, compared to when my first novel was nominated. When I finished The House of Doors yesterday, I stayed motionless and silent for half an hour, wondering what had just happened. This novel has an old-fashioned charm; it reads as if it were a classic written in the first half of the 20th century. The sense of time and place is evoked in an amazing way, I mean not only the clothes, interiors, furniture, food, nature, landscapes but also the characters' opinions and beliefs. I like the fact that the author led me astray plotwise on several occasions: for example, in the beginning, I thought this was going to be a sort of remake of Out of Africa in a Malayan setting, even the farm in Africa was mentioned, but it all went in a completely, completely different direction.Despite the differences between them Maugham finds himself drawn to Lesley and she finally tells him not only her story but that of a friend whose affair spiralled out of control with devastating consequences. Writing for The Guardian in a mixed review, critic Xan Brooks stated: "Sun, in his way, is as much a storyteller as Maugham. But his revolutionary adventure feels undercooked and imported. We view it via Lesley, the white colonial wife, and her vision of events is partial and obscured." [2] Brooks also stated that the eclectic storylines in the novel sometimes reduce the overall quality, stating "The sheer weight of its interests sometimes slows it down". The world is so still, so quiescent, that I wonder if it has stopped turning. But then, high above the land, I see a tremor in the air. A pair of raptors, far from their mountain eyrie. For a minute or two I want to believe they are brahminy kites, but of course they cannot be”. The novel was longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize and listed among notable fiction works in 2023 by The Washington Post and The Financial Times. The House Of Doors is divided in two mingled points of view, Lesley Hamlyn written in 1st person and Somerset “Willie” Maugham written in 3rd person. The two characters intersect in 1921 in Straits Settlement of Penang. Lesley lives in Cassowary House together with his husband, Robert, a lawyer and her two sons. During his Asian trip, the famous Writer Somerset Maugham, a good friend of Robert’s, decides to visit the family for three weeks. He travels together with his secretary/lover, Gerald.