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The House of Doors

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The House of Doors

By: Tan Twan Eng
Narrated by: David Oakes, Louise-Mai Newberry
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About this listen

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023

It is 1921 and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay.

Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day. But he is beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley's friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she see him as he is—a man who has no choice but to mask his true self.

As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including how she came to know the charismatic Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China. And more scandalous still, she reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts—a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction.

From Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors is a masterful novel of public morality and private truth a century ago. Based on real events it is a drama of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.

©2023 Tan Twan Eng (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Fiction Marriage Heartfelt

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All stars
Most relevant  
Loved this audiobook. My favourite so far! You really feel transported back to a time and a place far away. Will try and find more of this author now!

Amazing writing and excellent performances

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This was such a beautiful , well written and extremely well narrated story . It tells of a different way of life in a different time , very engaging . The narrator’s are both excellent but I Thought the female narrator just outstanding , Def recommend and will
Look for other works by this author

Beautiful !

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What a wonderful book and superbly narrated. The interweaving of the factual with the fictional is done seamlessly and Tan Twan Eng brilliantly captures the social attitudes of the early twentieth century.

Magnificent

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TTE writes with such beauty and elegance. No words are wasted, no paragraph is surplus to the story he creates.
I love his easy spellbinding prose. Until the next book...

spellbinding

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The evocation of Penang, the various strands of personal life, history and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Engrossing

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I found the story tedious initially, persisted as I really enjoy this author. I am glad I did. I am uncertain about the narrators though, some accents managed others jarred a bit.

The rich detail of the Penang and Malaysian landscape - geographic and historic

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I really enjoyed TTE’s first 2 books and was really looking forward to listening to this. However, in my opinion, I wasn’t able to relate to the characters and the story wasn’t anything like he had written before.

In the previous books there was a subtle approach to relationships between people, but in this TTE bravely used more expressive language which surprised me.

I am currently in Kuala Lumpur and didn’t feel transported like I had with the previous 2. The descriptions of Penang truly made you feel as though you had been transported there. But not in this one.

The narrators were really good, and I do have the hardback book, so will attempt to be drawn into that.

I don’t like making comparisons to the previous works, but with this book I just wasn’t satisfied.

I have just finished listening to it and already forgotten the character names.

Oh well. Roll on the next book.

Nothing like the previous two

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This book develops nicely, Keeps you intrigued. Set in colonial Malay 100 years ago and touching on the end of the Chinese feudalism, it mixes fact and fiction. Enjoyable.

interesting read

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A wonderful story, beautifully told.
A convincing evocation of life in Penang in the early twentieth century.
I found it utterly spellbinding.

Exquisite.

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Wonderful reworking of some real life events and characters from early in the 20th century in Malaysia. The twist at the end brought a lump to my throat and left me wanting to read or listen to more of this author.

Delicate and atmospheric

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