As a lover of literary fiction, there is nothing I appreciate more than a novel that blends delicately layered depth with exquisite, lyrical prose. Even more so, when it’s by a Booker-nominated author with a backlist that includes such poetic titles as The Garden of Evening Mists and The Gift of Rain.

Due to its location and historical setting, I was positively inclined towards The House of Doors before reading a single page. I know the island of Penang well and am fascinated by any story set in the colonial era.

This beautiful novel takes us to Penang at a glamorous time in its history. It’s 1921, and the island is populated by a melting pot of wealthy, entitled British expats and intellectuals, as well as well-to-do Chinese migrants.

At the heart of the story is Englishwoman Lesley Hamlin, her barrister husband, and their houseguests, author William Somerset Maugham and his secretary Gerald. Willie is struggling to write and hopes to find inspiration in Lesley’s past connection to charismatic Chinese revolutionary, Dr Sun Yat Sen.

Dipping in and out of two timelines — 1921 and 1911 — the narrative is a heady, engrossing blend of fact and fiction. Tan Twan Eng vividly brings to life colonial society, with all its intrigues, scandal and interracial affairs. And I regularly had to break off reading to research more about the factual elements. That my daughter-in-law is Malaysian, of Chinese extraction, and hails from a town just a short drive from Penang added to my fascination.

Tan Twan Eng’s use of language is sumptuous. If I hadn’t been listening to this on audio, I would have been tabbing almost every page. As well as weaving an irresistible story, he probes and explores topics redolent of the place and era, including elitism, morality, misogyny and sexuality.

An unforgettable, enlightening and meticulously researched work.

This was a beautifully written book based on true events. The writing though! Just beautifully written and lovely overall. Narrator was lovely. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

A fictionalised account of W Somerset Maugham’s 1921 stay in Penang, Malaya as a guest of Robert and Lesley Hamlyn.

This quietly compelling novel tells of unhappy marriages, secrets and intrigue. Told in the first person by Lesley and in the third person by Willie (Maugham), the narratives convey the social attitudes of the time concerning gender, sexuality and colonialism with meticulous detail.

The author’s masterful writing has great emotional depth and brings events to life.

The audiobook is perfectly cast by narrators Louise-Mai Newberry and David Oakes.

My thanks to NetGalley and WF Howes for the ARC.

This was the third book I have read by this author (The Garden of Evening Mists was the first book I ever reviewed many years ago), and I adore his beautiful prose and gentle but incisive character observations.

I particularly liked the melding of historical figures and events with fictional ones which made it feel more like a memoir and made me intrigued to find out just how much of the book was based in fact. It has also made me interested in reading W Somerset Maugham. His book The Letters was a reimagining of the Proudlock scandal from Malaysia in 1911, and so I found the concept of The House of Doors as a reimagining of his time in Malaysia and what he learnt while he was there to be fascinating.

The audiobook had two different narrators for the perspectives of Lesley and Willie and this worked particularly well and made it a very enjoyable and immersive listen.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical literary fiction, particularly the audiobook format as it complemented the author’s writing so well.

I enjoyed the ebook so much, I requested the audio version too. If possible, it’s even better than the reading format, mainly due to the excellent narration throughout. The pace is languid and delivery is spot on, capturing nuances of the text to perfection. Maugham’s stilted speech and adds to the complexity of his character.

The House of Doors is absolutely mesmerising. In my view, it should go down as a literary classic. It’s beautifully written, evocative, full of detail and it’s multi layered with fiction woven around real people and places.

The pace is leisurely; it’s a story to savour. The first part sets the scene and the latter part delves into mystery and intrigue. This is no high octane thriller; it builds slowly and with thought and the listener is drawn immediately into a different world. Eng captures the language and manners of the period to perfection and I was relaxed and swept into another world immediately. It’s totally captivating. . I haven’t read anything by this author before and will be looking for other books. Highly recommended whatever your taste in genre.

The House of Doors, by Tan Twan Eng

A stunning, multiple layered story, set in Penang in the early 1900s, focused mainly on society wife, Lesley Hamlyn, and exploring her relationships with her husband, friends and her lover.

A mix of real life events and people, entwined with fiction and peppered with intriguing history.

I loved the beautiful descriptions of Penang.

This complex and very powerful book is a must-read.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC/audiobook in return for an honest review.

"What keeps us alive, in the end, also consumes us"

Taking you to the timelines of 1920, this story is travelling from European setups all the way to China and Penang Island(Malaysia). Introducing you to the lives of an author who is suppressing his true identity, an English woman charged with murder and stuck amongst them a damsel who fears she knows too much.

The historical fiction inspired by true history gave this book a fresh angle. The social strains on both men and women under the thumb of an Empire and a revolution on its way are expressed in an admirable way! I almost fell for it. It was pretty difficult to find the true story of what happened back then, under the layers of stories narrated, and each time someone said what happened, I believed it. Only to be twisted in a different direction altogether!

P.S: If you are looking for a #lgbttrope to read in #pridemonth you can give this book a go. It is audience specific, so I will ask the readers to keep their interests in mind, too.

Genre: #historicalfiction #literaryfiction #lgbt #asia
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

Thankyou @netgalley @wfhowes @bloomsburypublishing and @tan.twan.eng for the digital ARC

This extraordinarily stunning piece of well researched historical fiction by Tan Twan Eng is probably my favourite read of 2023 so far, a blend of fact and fiction, inhabited by astutely portrayed characters of unusual emotional depth and complexities, primarily set in British colonial Penang in Malaya in 1921 and 1910, dripping with all the inequalities, class divisions, repugnant social norms, expectations and attitudes to women and homosexuality of the time, and the deeply embedded, unacceptable racism directed at the 'natives'. I read and listened to the audio of this as well, the audio is beautifully narrated by Louisa Mai Newberry and David Oakes, respectively reading this in way I found gripping, dramatically engaging, and kept my attention from beginning to end, it is 11 hours and 15 minutes long. It begins with Lesley Hamlyn, whose husband Robert is dead, her children having long since flown the nest, living on a remote sheep farm in Doomfontein, in South Africa, although she longs for Penang, a home she had left, but it seems out of reach now.

The arrival of a package containing a book by the famous and popular writer W Somerset Maugham, The Casuarina Tree, brings back memories of his 2 week stay, accompanied by his 'secretary' Gerald Haxton, at their home, The Cassowary House, in Penang. He was a good friend of her older lawyer husband, Robert. Willie arrives in poor health, in a failing marriage with Syrie, struggling to write, and shattered by the news that he has lost all his money, which threatens to derail his travelling lifestyle and relationship with Gerald. Lesley makes the momentous decision that could cost her everything, she confides the intimate details of her personal life to Willie, and a period in 1910 that meant so much to her. This documents her time with the charismatic Chinese revolutionary, Dr Sen Yat Wen, inspiring a passion within her that has her helping him in his campaign to overthrow the Chinese dynasty, her affair conducted in the House of Doors, and the scandalous murder trial of her friend, Ethel Proudfoot.

The author paints a richly vibrant and lush picture of the cultural melting pot that is Malaya, with its wide variety of foods, music, and below the radar forbidden relationships that could destroy lives should they become public. The actual House of Doors provides a metaphor of a time where it can be dangerous to be who you are, private lives are hidden behind closed doors, truth cannot afford public scrutiny. This is as true for Lesley as it is for Willie, but is she is prepared for her life to explode? It is well known that Willie bases his stories on real life, but she has a burning inner need for her true self to be recognised. This is a beautiful, atmospheric, multilayered historical read that has the timeless feel of a classic, complicated characters forced to live in a rigid judgemental world, it has an incredible sense of location, it speaks of transcendence, marriage, sexuality, love, loss, betrayal, friendship, home, loyalty, and ends with a glimpse of light, with the doors that had been closed for so many years beginning to creak open. A must read that I cannot recommend highly enough and which deserves to win awards! And I can recommend the audio version! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC and ALC.

DNF at 20% because
a) I can’t bear living with any of these characters
And
b) what is that bad American accent?

I loved Tan Twan Eng’s other books but sadly this was not one for me.

Rated 3 stars in order to be fairly neutral.

“The walls here were also covered with doors. And hanging from the ceiling beams were more doors, carefully spaced apart and suspended on wires so thin they seemed to be floating in the air. We walked between the rows of painted doors, our shoulders and elbows setting them spinning slowly.”

My thanks to W.F. Howes for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The House of Doors’ by Tan Twan Eng. The audiobook is narrated by David Oakes and Louise-Mai Newberry.

It is notable that Eng’s first two novels were both nominated for the Man Booker Prize: ‘The Gift of Rain’ was long-listed in 2007 and ‘The Garden of Evening Mists’ was short-listed in 2012 and went on to win two literary awards. It will be interesting to see how ‘The House of Doors’, his third novel, is received.

The novel has two narrative perspectives. The first is Lesley Hamlyn, a society hostess who in 1921 is living with her lawyer husband, Robert, at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay.

The second voice is Willie Somerset Maugham, one of the greatest writers of his day. Yet despite his fame, Willie has many problems including an unhappy marriage, ill-health, and business problems. On top of all this he is struggling to write.

Over time a friendship grows between Lesley and Willie. She ends up confiding her secrets to him, including how in 1910 she came to know the charismatic Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China and her relationship to Dr. Arthur Loh, who had served as Dr. sen’s interpreter. It is Loh who collects painted doors and displays them in the house of the title. Lesley also reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman who was charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts.

Throughout ‘The House of Doors’ Tan Twan Eng’s writing is exquisite. He skilfully blends fact and fiction, incorporating details of the infamous murder trial along with Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s time in Penang. Given its period setting it’s quite fitting that Eng addresses issues linked to British colonialism. As a result dated language and attitudes are sometimes expressed.

With respect to the audiobook edition, I appreciated that there were two narrators as it smoothly signalled the shift between the perspectives of Lesley and Willie. Actors Louise-Mai Newberry and David Oakes may not have much experience as audiobook narrators, though they did an excellent job of bringing the beauty of Eng’s writing to life.

Overall, I found ‘The House of Doors’ a brilliant work of historical literary fiction that addresses important issues, perfectly evokes its period setting, and proved an engaging and thought provoking read.

Highly recommended.