The House of Doors

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When the World’s Most Famous Writer Visits a Hotbed of Amorous Intrigue, by James Wood, The New Yorker, November 6, 2023. Told from both perspectives, the plot envisions Maugham’s visit in 1921. He has just discovered that a poor investment decision has left him pretty much broke. He’s desperate to write his next book and is searching for a topic. Lesley tells him the story of her friend, who was convicted of murdering a man with whom she was having an affair. The fact that it’s told by Lesley to Willie reduces some of the impact, being told as a secondhand account. When I finished The House of Doors yesterday, I stayed motionless and silent for half an hour, wondering what had just happened. This novel has an old-fashioned charm; it reads as if it were a classic written in the first half of the 20th century. The sense of time and place is evoked in an amazing way, I mean not only the clothes, interiors, furniture, food, nature, landscapes but also the characters' opinions and beliefs. I like the fact that the author led me astray plotwise on several occasions: for example, in the beginning, I thought this was going to be a sort of remake of Out of Africa in a Malayan setting, even the farm in Africa was mentioned, but it all went in a completely, completely different direction.

The Gentleman in the Parlour: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong by W. Somerset Maugham (William Heinemann, 1930) The dynamics of power of that period: between men and women, between the ruler and the ruled, between people of different races and cultures. I’m fascinated by how East and West clashed, merged, pulled apart; how they enriched but also damaged each other. Sadly, all these issues are still very relevant today. We did not know very much about one another then, and I feel we still don’t today. The Unfinished Revolution: Sun Yat-Sen and the Struggle for Modern China by Tjio Kayloe (Marshall Cavendish, 2017) Set in two main time lines, in tropical Penang and KL a woman reveals a story of her past to William Somerset Maugham. Based around some real characters and events, it's a story within a story.W. Somerset Maugham and his wife Syrie in the mid 1920s. I could not find a photo from Penang in 1921. This image was sourced from W. Somerset Maugham: A Portrait Gallery

It’s based on true events. It’s a work of fiction; yet it features characters and events drawn from history…a murder in 1911 which Eng set in 1910 to coincide with Sun Yat-Sen’s extended stay in Penang. I thoroughly enjoyed The House of Doors, and it has inspired me to read several original works by W. Somerset Maugham including some of the short story collections [RTC]. Attempting to offer up a more detail book report here….but be clear ….the best thing I can say to others is “just read it!!!”There's much to be said about Eng's ability to craft a scene, especially the vivid settings and descriptions of nature. Though the novel as a whole seems to fall into many of the tropes of historical fiction, he does excel in rendering a location or crafting a rich environment within which his characters reside. The Booker judges described The House of Doors as ‘historical fiction at its finest’. Were you inspired by any other writers of historical fiction while writing the book? Willie has hidden his homosexuality…..and was married to Syrie. They lived in London, had one daughter, but Willie traveled so much with his ‘secretary’ (cover-up for lover) so often he wasn’t home much.. Their marriage of convenience was unraveling.