The House Of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Set primarily in colonial Penang in 1921, The House of Doors is a richly layered historical novel that interweaves personal memory, political upheaval, and literary inspiration. The story centres on Lesley Hamlyn, a British woman in a strained marriage to Robert, a war veteran and lawyer. Their lives are disrupted by the arrival of famed writer W. Somerset Maugham ("Willie") and his lover-secretary Gerald Haxton.
Lesley, drawn to Maugham’s empathetic listening, begins to recount her past, particularly her friendship with Ethel Proudlock, who was involved in a sensational murder trial in Kuala Lumpur in 1911. Ethel’s story, which inspired Maugham’s short story The Letter, becomes a central narrative within the novel. Lesley also shares her connection to Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen, revealing her involvement in his political movement and her own romantic entanglements, including an affair with Arthur Loh, a member of Sun’s circle.
The novel unfolds through a nonlinear structure, shifting between 1947, 1921, and 1910, and explores themes of colonialism, gender roles, sexuality, and the blurred lines between fiction and reality. The titular "House of Doors" is both a literal location and a metaphor for the choices, secrets, and revelations that shape the characters’ lives.
Tan Twan Eng’s prose is elegant and evocative, painting Penang with lush, sensory detail, its tropical beauty contrasting with the emotional and political tensions simmering beneath the surface.
