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The Painted Veil

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The Painted Veil

By: W. Somerset Maugham
Narrated by: Sophie Ward
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About this listen

 This is the story of Kitty Fane, the adulterous wife of a bacteriologist stationed in Hong Kong. When her husband discovers her deception, he exacts a terrible vengeance: Kitty must accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic in China.©2006 W. Somerset Maugham (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics European Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Marriage

Critic Reviews

"[Maugham is] the modern writer who has influenced me the most." (George Orwell)
"An expert craftsman....His style is sharp, quick, subdued, casual."( The New York Times)
" The Painted Veil, with its sadness, its moral tension, its irony and compassion, its building evocations of lust and terror and remorse, is a work of art." ( Spectator)

What listeners say about The Painted Veil

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Brilliant, want more like this

Lovely haunting story, beautifully read. Wish there were more audio books like this one. listened to it multiple times.

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Classic literature

I found it really interesting to see how authors like Somerset Maugham writes during his period of history. Very revealing on how our society functioned then. Quite different attitudes to many we have now particularly on the class differences, treatment of women and how society operated without contemporary technology.

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Profile Image for Jo Bartlett

Beautiful

A beautiful and emotional story showing life and love in a different time. Life changes, society changes, but not so human nature.
Thoroughly enjoyed this novel and the narration was superb.

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A masterpiece

A delicate morality tale, sensitively told and beautifully read .
A pleasure to listen to, and more than once. A favourite.

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