It is 1921 and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert’s, comes to stay.Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day. But he is beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley’s friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she see him as he is – a man who has no choice but to mask his true self.As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including how she came to know the charismatic Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China. And more scandalous still, she reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts – a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction.From Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors is a masterful novel of public morality and private truth a century ago. Based on real events it is a drama of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Imprint: Canongate UK
Publication date: 18/05/2023
The House of Doors
By Tan Twan Eng
Review by Marija
After an 11-year wait, Tan Twan Eng’s new book is finally here, and it is a book to savour. Set in 1920’s British colony of Penang (today’s Malaysia), the book revolves around a very well-to-do couple, and the visit of their friend, the writer Somerset Maugham. The motifs running through the story are the universal human drivers – desire, duty, and love. Eng is a mesmerizing writer – his graceful, atmospheric prose weaving characters, storylines, times, and places with aching poignancy. His language is precise, and at the same time effortlessly free-flowing and poetic. I kept re-reading sentences, simply for the beauty of expression contained within.
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