The Painted Veil

W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel, The Painted Veil, follows the turbulent life of the beautiful, yet shallow, English socialite Kitty Fane. Bored with her arranged marriage to the brilliant but reserved bacteriologist, Walter Fane, Kitty engages in a reckless affair in colonial Hong Kong.


When Walter discovers her infidelity, he forces her into a cruel, desperate bargain: accompany him to the remote Chinese village of Mei-tan-fu, which is currently ravaged by a deadly cholera epidemic, or face public ruin. Facing betrayal by her lover and ostracized by society, Kitty reluctantly joins Walter in the desolate outpost.


Surrounded by death, disease, and the selfless dedication of her husband and the French nuns, Kitty is stripped of her vanity. This harrowing experience compels her to confront her own triviality and the superficial illusions she'd mistaken for life—the "painted veil." The journey transforms Kitty from a frivolous girl into a woman seeking meaning and redemption, a profound meditation on love, duty, and self-discovery amidst a backdrop of catastrophic suffering.