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The house of doors : a novel  Cover Image Book Book

The house of doors : a novel / Tan Twan Eng.

Summary:

"It's 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's 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."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781639731930 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: 306 pages ; 25 cm
  • Publisher: New York : Bloomsbury, 2023.

Content descriptions

General Note:
"First published in Great Britain in 2023 by Canongate Books Ltd."--Title page verso.
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references.
Subject: Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965 > Fiction.
Proudlock, Ethel > Trials, litigation, etc. > Fiction.
Sun, Yat-sen, 1866-1925 > Fiction.
Authors, English > 20th century > Fiction.
Friendship > Fiction.
Gay authors > Fiction.
Gay men > Fiction.
Interpersonal relations > Fiction.
Married people > Fiction.
Secrecy > Fiction.
Triangles (Interpersonal relations) > Fiction.
Malaya > History > British rule, 1867-1942 > Fiction.
Pinang Island (Pulau Pinang, Malaysia) > History > 20th century > Fiction.
Pulau Pinang (Malaysia : State) > Fiction.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Biographical fiction.
Gay fiction.
Novels.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Cookstown Branch FIC Tan 31681010345908 FICTION Available -

  • Baker & Taylor
    In 1921 Penang, when Willie, a famed writer and old friend of her husband’s, arrives for an extended stay, Lesley, as her friendship with Willie grows, makes a dangerous decision to confide in him about life in the Straits, including her relationship with a charismatic Chinese revolutionary—a confession that has devastating consequences.
  • Baker & Taylor
    "The year is 1921. Lesley Hamlyn and her husband, Robert, a lawyer and war veteran, are living at Cassowary House on the Straits Settlement of Penang. When 'Willie' Somerset Maugham, a famed writer and old friend of Robert's, arrives for an extended visit with his secretary, Gerald, the pair threatens a rift that could alter more lives than one. Maugham, one of the great novelists of his day, is beleaguered: Having long hidden his homosexuality, his unhappy and expensive marriage of convenience becomes unbearable after he loses his savings--and the freedom to travel with Gerald. His career deflating, his health failing, Maugham arrives at Cassowary House in desperate need of a subject for his next book. Lesley, too, is enduring a marriage more duplicitous than it first appears. Maugham suspects an affair, and, learning of Lesley's past connection to the Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat Sen, decides to probe deeper. But as their friendship grows and Lesley confides in him about life in the Straits, Maugham discovers a far more surprising tale than he imagined, one that involves not only war and scandal but the trial of an Englishwoman charged with murder. It is, to Maugham, a story worthy of fiction"--Dust jacket flap.
  • McMillan Palgrave
    From the bestselling author of The Garden of Evening Mists, a spellbinding novel about love and betrayal, colonialism and revolution, storytelling and redemption.
  • McMillan Palgrave

    LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION
    INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

    NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER, NPR, SLATE, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE WORK
    A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE

    From the bestselling author
    of The Garden of Evening Mists, a spellbinding novel about love and betrayal, colonialism and revolution, storytelling and redemption.

    The year is 1921. Lesley Hamlyn and her husband, Robert, a lawyer and war veteran, are living at Cassowary House on the Straits Settlement of Penang. When “Willie” Somerset Maugham, a famed writer and old friend of Robert's, arrives for an extended visit with his secretary Gerald, the pair threatens a rift that could alter more lives than one.

    Maugham, one of the great novelists of his day, is beleaguered: Having long hidden his homosexuality, his unhappy and expensive marriage of convenience becomes unbearable after he loses his savings-and the freedom to travel with Gerald. His career deflating, his health failing, Maugham arrives at Cassowary House in desperate need of a subject for his next book. Lesley, too, is enduring a marriage more duplicitous than it first appears. Maugham suspects an affair, and, learning of Lesley's past connection to the Chinese revolutionary, Dr. Sun Yat Sen, decides to probe deeper. But as their friendship grows and Lesley confides in him about life in the Straits, Maugham discovers a far more surprising tale than he imagined, one that involves not only war and scandal but the trial of an Englishwoman charged with murder. It is, to Maugham, a story worthy of fiction.

    A mesmerizingly beautiful novel based on real events, The House of Doors traces the fault lines of race, gender, sexuality, and power under empire, and dives deep into the complicated nature of love and friendship in its shadow.


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