The Painted Veil - SFBA Book Club

English language

Published April 18, 2001

ISBN:: 978-0-09-928687-5

(1 review)

The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by British author W. Somerset Maugham. The title is a reference to Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1824 sonnet, which begins "Lift not the painted veil which those who live / Call Life". The novel was first published in serialised form in five issues of Cosmopolitan (November 1924 – March 1925). Beginning in May 1925, it was serialised in the United Kingdom in eight parts in Nash's Magazine. The biographer Richard Cordell notes that the book was influenced by Maugham's study of science and his work as a houseman at St Thomas' Hospital. In the preface to his book, Maugham tells how the main characters originally were called Lane, but that the names were changed to Fane, following the success of a libel case against the publishers by a Hong Kong couple with the name of Lane. The couple were awarded £250. To avoid similar …

The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by British author W. Somerset Maugham. The title is a reference to Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1824 sonnet, which begins "Lift not the painted veil which those who live / Call Life". The novel was first published in serialised form in five issues of Cosmopolitan (November 1924 – March 1925). Beginning in May 1925, it was serialised in the United Kingdom in eight parts in Nash's Magazine. The biographer Richard Cordell notes that the book was influenced by Maugham's study of science and his work as a houseman at St Thomas' Hospital. In the preface to his book, Maugham tells how the main characters originally were called Lane, but that the names were changed to Fane, following the success of a libel case against the publishers by a Hong Kong couple with the name of Lane. The couple were awarded £250. To avoid similar problems after A. G. M. Fletcher, the then assistant colonial secretary in Hong Kong, also threatened legal action, the name of the colony was changed to Tching-Yen. Later editions reverted to Hong Kong but the name Fane was kept for all editions.

2 editions

73pctGeek reviewed The Painted Veil by William Somerset Maugham

The worst Maugham I've read

3 stars

Kitty has an affair which leads to difficult consequences.

I didn’t care for this. Unlike “Of Human Bondage” in which Maugham mesmerised me with his prose, I found the dialogue stilted, flat and the writing tiresome. When I looked it up, I was stunned to learn “The Painted Veil” was written a decade after “Of Human Bondage”.

Kitty, the rather unpleasant protagonist, is a spoilt, shallow child of a woman who marries a man she barely even likes, on a whim. Her development throughout the novel didn’t ring true, and seemed unlikely, making her character feel flat and unbelievable. I just couldn’t manage to suspend my disbelief of the transformation she undergoes. I found the setting bland, didn’t care for any of the characters, didn’t enjoy the plot, and felt very disappointed by the ending. In short, not for me.