The House of Doors

By: Tan Twan Eng

Narrated by: David Oakes, Louise-Mai Newberry

Bloomsbury presents The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng, read by David Oakes and Louise-Mai Newberry.

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.

Critic reviews

[Tan] can write with lyrical generosity and beautiful tact . . . lovely, drifting, dreamlike . . . Exquisite.

The House of Doors will draw you into its mesh of secrets and subterfuge.

Entrancing . . . lushly atmospheric . . . There's much to untangle and savor in this exquisite novel . . . Tan has pulled off not just a captivating novel, but an ingenious twist that explores how literature works its magic.

Captivating . . . exquisite. . . I'll remember The House of Doors for its smart cross-cultural excursions and its indelible images.

The book’s elaborate structure is itself a house of many doors, a metaphor for the hidden truths within . . . Eng employs masterful control, and we follow his thread to a satisfying ending.

A magnetic tale of love, betrayal, and colonialism.

[This] exquisitely atmospheric novel has the high gloss of a 1940s Hollywood melodrama . . . Out of these characters’ stifled yearnings and rare moments of transcendence, Tan has made a ravishingly romantic novel.

Tan effortlessly fuses fiction and fact as he paints a portrait of Maugham’s trip to Malaysia, his desperate search for a new writing subject, colonialism, and the restraints of heteronormative marriage.

Based on actual events, [The House of Doors] plumbs timeless issues of race, gender, and sexuality . . . Sublime, elegant prose from the mind of a gifted storyteller.

Tan Twan Eng spins a tale of colonial scandal and intrigue in The House of Doors . . . solid, well-crafted . . . engrossing.

Brilliant.

The House of Doors is propelled by fascinating characters, the tension over their gradual revelations and Eng's exquisite writing . . . an arresting, melancholy story about romantic complications.

Vibrant . . . [Tan] excels at setting an atmospheric mood, whether it be in a bustling and exotic enclave or a home where secrets are traded over tea and gin.

[Tan] keeps getting better . . . Mesmerizing.

An ambitious, elaborate fiction about fictions . . . a portrait of the artist in crisis, a meditation on how and why we tell stories and a heated courtroom drama.

Expertly constructed, tightly plotted and richly atmospheric.

What elevates Eng’s book is the sheer beauty of his writing – restrained, elegant, precise, every detail accurate, every line considered . . . He resides in the very top row. The sentences here remind me of Shirley Hazzard, or perhaps James Salter. I can offer little higher praise.

Outstanding . . . The House of Doors again displays [Eng's] talent for atmospheric evocation of place and period . . . Beautifully detailed and encompassing the vagaries of Maugham's life . . . The House of Doors is a finely accomplished piece of work.

Lyrical and lovely . . . This book transports readers . . . and its more than worth the price of the ticket.

Beautiful reading of an author who carefully uses language to paint the story

The plot, woven around historical and authorial events fills in gaps plausibly yet imaginatively. Did not want it to end, yet the ending was very satisfying

Descriptive

Enjoyed learning about Somerset Maugham, his books, Ethel Proudlock, and life in that time period .

What a wonderful book!

I loved this novel. It is beautifully written and marvelously read. The story carries you away to a dreamy time and place. At the end of the novel, Lesley and all the other characters will stay in your thoughts for a long time as you wish you could know what may have happened after the book ends.

lovely for a maugham fan

This expands and imanges Maugham’s trip to Malaya and the background of his short story “the letter”. The world is much richer and quite enjoyable for someone who likes Maugham.

complex, historical lyrics accurate, poignant

An excellent evocation of the period between the two qorld wars. Leslie is an admirable bright woman of the jazz age. one gets a peek inside the gay world of the time. The story of the modernization China is told from a personal viewpoint, AND there is also a murder mystery. Great narration.