[b:The House of Doors|65215270|The House of Doors|Tan Twan Eng|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1698331937l/65215270._SY75_.jpg|98727713] touched all my buttons in a good way: beautiful writing, literary references which had me looking up bios and movies and stories of [a:W. Somerset Maugham|4176632|W. Somerset Maugham|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1414096390p2/4176632.jpg] who is fictionalized in this novel. There was romance, murder, and an exotic locale. [a:Tan Twan Eng|13847588|Tan Twan Eng|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1500524463p2/13847588.jpg] keeps us moving along at a fine pace using the alternate chapter structure of Maugham, then Lesley, the storyteller. Does anyone read Maugham now? Other than his colonial racism, he's a master of description, place and people. I read [b:The Letter and Other Stories|887839|The Letter and Other Stories|W. Somerset Maugham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1179194622l/887839._SX50_.jpg|873023] and want to see the Bette Davis movie. ( )

Historical fiction is not my favorite genre though there are a number of works of historical fiction I have loved. The thing, I think, that separates most historical fiction from what I consider the good stuff is that the good stuff subverts the conventions of the genre in which it falls. IMO, most historical fiction is manipulative drivel that ignores everything important about significant historical events and reduces them down to things that broke up lovers or put stress on families Those books want to make readers cry (for some reason) rather than taking the opportunity to guide the reader in learning about events and movements that shape lives and define who we are and how we interact with the world. The attachment to these tropes explains why so much historical fiction is based in Nazi-occupied Europe -- it is the paint-by-numbers of novel writing. There is no need for nuanced characters, just a bank of readers who have been raised with clear direction on what is good and what is evil -- add a subverted relationship and mix and voila, you have a book. The House of Doors does not fall into that trap. The characters are rich and the focus is on the complexities of the relationships and situations portrayed, with no simple good vs evil presentation. Gay men marry women and break their hearts and women retaliate for the hurt they feel in the only ways available to these women 100 years ago (spend his money or cuckold him.) And even in the fighting back or clamoring to latch on to that real love or pleasure or feeling of safety that is denied one, everyone is hurt and pleasures are fleeting. The book delves deep into the ways colonialism turned nations into leisure communities for Europeans where they take the good and valuable things they "discover" and control the people they have colonized. (Colonialism is definitely evil, except that things did not go well for countries, like China, which mostly though not entirely fought effectively against colonization.) Eng shows us that marriage itself is both a trap and a haven (and it its way, a colonization of women), self-rule a sometimes deadly blessing. No easy answers. This is one of best depictions of the ways in which colonization causes harm and keeps on harming I have read. It does not fall into the historical fiction trap of creating the sainted and the evil, the cowboys and Indians sort of lens applied to imperialism outside the US (which is no more interesting to me when the Indians are the one-dimensional heroes than when the cowboys are.)

In addition to subverting the tropes of historical fiction, this book transcends another thing that holds most historical fiction back -- it is beautifully written. It is written very much in the style of Somerset Maugham, who is a character in the book, but it also feels very separate from his work. The book is smartly (not reactively) anti-colonial, subtly feminist, and truly humanist, as was true of Maugham's work. I really enjoyed it. I did feel there were a couple of storylines that spun off and then came back after I had sort of forgotten them and had lost some interest in them, and I had a hard time connecting some narratives to one another. Highly recommended. ( )

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.

Having read Tan Twan Eng other two books I was really looking forward to this. It has been over 10 years since The Garden of the Evening mist came out.
He really writes the most beautiful books and this is another masterpiece. The story is multi-layered, a lot of it is based on true events and it's a fascinating read, full of intrigue and secrets.

https://quizlit.org/book-of-the-month-october-2023 ( )

Beautifully written story based on novelist "Willie" Somerset Maugham, who visits an old friend, Robert, and his wife, Lesley, in Malaysia, with his secretary, Gerald. He is bemoaning losing money, and poor book sales. Lesley tells him of her friend, Edith, accused of murdering a man who had sexually attacked her, and the ensuing trial. Lesley also tells of her affair with Arthur.
The story tells of all the secrets that the men were living, not able to openly live as homosexuals, and marrying women to be their beards. Lesley's marriage is also a sham, so she finds solace in Arthur's arms.
Set in the early 20th century, it is based on actual events.
I loved the writing. ( )

Can’t believe there was an Andie MacDowell “Is it raining? I hadn’t noticed” moment in a Booker novel. Anyone who writes a scene in which a couple has their pivotal romantic moment in a rainstorm, wet hair and clothes plastered to skin, should be shot. Ok not really. Exiled from the artistic community perhaps.

Despite that, not too bad. Not too great either, for me. ( )