The Painted Veil
Kitty marries the quiet bacteriologist Walter Fane mostly to escape her mother, and once they reach Hong Kong she drifts into an affair with a charming, worthless official. When Walter discovers the betrayal, he offers her a cruel choice: a public divorce or a journey with him into the heart of a cholera epidemic in inland China. Among the dying, and among the nuns who nurse them, Kitty is pushed past her own vanity toward something like understanding. First published in 1925, the novel is one of Maugham’s most controlled studies of self-deception and slow moral awakening. This free PDF and EPUB edition brings back a spare, affecting story of a shallow woman remade by grief and duty.
About the Author
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was one of the most popular British authors of the twentieth century, working across the novel, the short story, and the stage. He trained as a physician and served in wartime intelligence, experiences that sharpened his clear prose and unsentimental view…
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Listen to The Painted Veil Audiobook Free
Listen to The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham free online. The full audiobook (8 hr 19 min, 15 chapters, read by Bob R) streams free on this page.
The Painted Veil (1925) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sec 00 | 8:54 | |
| 2 | Sec 01 | 23:00 | |
| 3 | Sec 02 | 30:40 | |
| 4 | Sec 03 | 35:05 | |
| 5 | Sec 04 | 36:14 | |
| 6 | Sec 05 | 30:07 | |
| 7 | Sec 06 | 34:50 | |
| 8 | Sec 07 | 31:43 | |
| 9 | Sec 08 | 43:32 | |
| 10 | Sec 09 | 32:36 | |
| 11 | Sec 10 | 38:48 | |
| 12 | Sec 11 | 42:01 | |
| 13 | Sec 12 | 39:10 | |
| 14 | Sec 13 | 32:39 | |
| 15 | Sec 14 | 39:18 |
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