"He did not speak because he had nothing to say. But if nobody spoke unless they had something to say, Kitty reflected, with a smile, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech."

What is it that makes life worth living? For Kitty Garstin, it's living the high life as a well-to-do debutante. After turning down dozens of marriage proposals, she finally accepts an offer from bacteriologist Walter Fane out of desperation, and follows him to Hong Kong. In the midst of a cholera outbreak, Kitty's world drastically changes as she embarks on a journey to discover the real meaning of life.

A trained physician, W. Somerset Maugham's first novel sold so well that he gave up medicine to become a full-time writer. Inspired by the author's travels through China and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil was first published as a five-part serial in Cosmopolitan magazine.

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