The House of Doors

 by Tan Twan Eng

This story is set in Penang Malaysia in the early 1920's primarily.

The main character is a British woman, Lesley Hamlyn, who is the mother of two sons and married to a lawyer.  She really likes their home in Penang. However, she and her husband do not really have a loving relationship.

The author Somerset Maugham comes to stay with them for a few weeks, along with his male lover.  He is escaping from his wife in England.  He is devastated to learn that he made some bad financial investments and is now in serious financial trouble.  He realizes he has to write some books to make some money.  He is afraid his lover will leave him when he learns about his financial situation.

The Hamlyn's are introduced to a Chinese revoluntionary, Sun Yat Sen.  Lesley is impressed by him and tries to help him by promoting him in Penang and helping him translate some of his pamphlets into the local language for the local Chinese population.

Lesley is devastated when her brother, who is a newspaper Editor in Penang, tells her that her husband is having and affair.  He thinks she will divorce her husband.  However, after thinking things over Lesley decides divorce would be devastating for her and her sons financially and socially so she decides to stay in the marriage.  Eventually she finds out that the person her husband is having an affair with is a male chinese  This is more of a shock than the initial news of his adultery.

When she is working on translating Sun Yat Sen's pamphlets she is working in a house in the chinese section of the city.  There she meets another Chinese man.  He tells her about Chinese history and takes her to a house he inherited from his mother.  The house is full of carved/decorated doors hanging from the ceiling.  Apparently it is a chinese tradition to decorate the entrance doors to houses.  They eventually start having and affair.  Lesley is so happy and doesn't feel guilty at all.

Eventually she confides about her love affair to Maugham, he assumes her lover is Sun Yat Sen.  Lesley is worried that Maugham will put her story into one of his published stories but then realizes it is too late to worry about that.  She feels good at being able to tell someone about it.

While all this is going on Lesley's best friend, a married woman,  is arrested for murder of a man who was her lover.  The woman and tried to break off the relationship but one night the man comes to her house when her husband is not home and she shoots him. She does not admit she was having an  affair, rather says the man invaded her house and tried to rape her.  Lesley speaks in her defense at the trial but does not divulge that the woman was having and affair.  The public think the woman will be acquitted as she is British but the jury finds her guilty and she is sentenced to be hanged.  The woman's husband has been supporting her all along and they are appealing the sentence.  However, the woman gets tired of the delay and asks for a pardon from the Sultan, this does not acquit her but she escapes the death sentence.  She is forced to leave the country and returns to England alone.

Maugham does write a stories about his time in Penang, these stories upset many of the locals because they know he is writing about them.  Fortuanatley for Lesley he does not write about her.  One of the main stories he writes is about Lesley's friend the murderess.

Eventually Sun Yat Sen's many attempts to overthrow the Chinese dynasty succeeds and Lesley's lover decides he has to go to China to join the fight.  She is devastated that he is leaving her and they never see each other again.

From the beginning of the story Lesley's husband, a veteran of WWI has been talking about moving to South Africa for his health.  Lesley says she will not go with him but after a number of years her husband decides to move and she goes with him.  They live out their life together in South Africa.  Neither ever mentions their affairs.

The book was interesting for the description of the times, and the locale but after reading I was thinking, so what's the point of it all?  It certainly portrayed the disparity between the rich and the poor (Asians) in Malaysia and the Chinese history was interesting but wonder what purpose all the unhappy people and affairs.  People stay in unhappy marriages just for the economic convenience/necessity. Plus the doors, what is about that? the importance of acknowledging and preserving history?  The book also hinted about the impact foreign "invaders"can have on a country and culture and the disparity between the Brit expats and the people who end up serving them.