House of Doors

Author Name: Tan Tuan Eng

Willie Somerset Maugham, one of the greatest writers of the first half of the 20th century, finds himself trapped in an unhappy marriage, ill health, bankrupted by reckless investments, and struggling to write.
His friend Robert Hamlin offers him an escape to the Straits Colonies of Penang, where he meets Robert's determined wife, and a friendship-enmity develops between them.
As Willy prepares to leave, Leslie confides in him secrets from her past, including her acquaintance with the charismatic Chinese revolutionary Sat Wen, and her infamous connection to an Englishwoman accused of murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts. A tragedy inspired by a true story and the story of writing about it.
From the most celebrated Malaysian writer, whose two previous novels won numerous awards, comes *House of Doors*: a masterful novel of universal morality and personal truth. Nearly a century ago, *House of Doors*, whose narrative is informed by true events, is a drama of love and betrayal under the shadow of an empire.