She had nothing to live for any more. It was rather hard to be finished with life at twenty-seven.
Kitty Fane, former debutante, jumped into marriage wShe had nothing to live for any more. It was rather hard to be finished with life at twenty-seven.
Kitty Fane, former debutante, jumped into marriage with Walter, a bacteriologist stationed in Hong Kong, and now he may know that she's been bonking Charlie Townsend. (No, not that Charlie Townsend with the Angels -- the charismatic, middle-aged Assistant Colonial Secretary.) We'll go back and find out how she got herself into this fine kettle of fish, thanks to a mother who only raised her to marry well, and a homely sister who managed to snag a rich husband faster.
Of course, Walter does know about Charlie and gives her an ultimatum: a scandalous divorce or likely death in a cholera-plagued Chinese city far from Hong Kong. What's a girl to do? (Kitty is such a Kitty, in the literary tradition of the diminutive nickname.)
This is my third Maugham novel and he's becoming one of my favorites. My GR friend, Joe refers to this novel as "Maugham on speed dial," which I find very accurate. The tight prose, sardonic wit, and sexual female character constrained by society are all here, in a relatively compact novel that nevertheless showcases tremendous character development. (Kitty grew on me.)
Although set in the same vast country as The Good Earth (which I read last month*), the native Chinese people are viewed only distantly here, through the "Kitty filter," primarily focused on physical appearance and her social norms. The perspective of colonial racism here is similar to E.M. Forster's in A Passage to India*, but shifted to the background and shown only through a British lens.
Here was food for reflection: Kitty had never heard the Chinese spoken of as anything but decadent, dirty, and unspeakable. It was as though the corner of a curtain were lifted for a moment, and she caught a glimpse of a world rich with a color and significance she had not dreamt of.
Overall, I found this a delightful novel -- a portrait of a woman very much a product of her time and culture, who finds herself in a difficult situation and manages to change her own narrative. If Maugham had written a sequel, that would be next on my to-read list. Instead, I'll have to settle for Cakes and Ale.
*As part of my classic-of-the-month project, this summer is devoted to white people (two British men & an American woman) writing about Asia: A Passage to India, The Good Earth, and this book. I've purposely picked books that (hopefully) aren't ragingly racist....more
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