Classics Fiction Historical Romance

The Painted Veil

Name: The Painted Veil
Rating: 3.97 (51400 reviews)
Author: W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham April 1, 1925

3.97 51.4k Ratings

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Synopsis

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.

The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive.

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Hard times come upon Wang Lung and his family when flood and drought force them to seek work in the city. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.

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Alternate cover editions of ISBN 9780143038092 can be found here.

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This is an alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780451529305.

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The Painted Veil

Books similar to The Painted Veil

The Good Earth

The Joy Luck Club

Peony in Love

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

Shanghai Girls

Empire of the Sun

Little Women

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