The House Of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

 

In 1921, Somerset Maughn, known as Willie to his friends, arrives in Penang, Malaysia, along with his secretary Gerald.  He is there to visit his old friend Robert who lives there with his wife Lesley and their children.  Maughn has just released a new book and it is doing well but while on his visit, disaster strikes.  He gets news from his lawyers that he has lost all his savings in a risky investment.  Distraught, he looks around for material for a new book.

Willie is gay and Gerald is not only his secretary but his lover.  He had hoped to divorce his wife and travel more extensively with Gerald but that is not likely if he is impoverished.  He hears that Robert and Lesley had known the Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen and believes that Lesley may have had an affair with him.  Would that be a good topic?  Willie believes that everyone knows a writer uses everything he hears so he doesn't need to feel guilty about exposing secrets others have kept hidden.  But as he gets to know Lesley better in late night conversations, he finds a better topic.  One of Lesley's friends had been charged with murder of a man she might have been involved with.  

Robert and Lesley have secrets but not the ones that Willie suspects.  Their marriage has been a sham for many years but under everything there is still some love existent.  Lesley is torn between keeping her secrets or blowing everything up in the relief of having someone to tell them to. What will Willie do?

This novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize as were his two previous novels.  It won various awards and is considered a best historical fiction.  Eng was born in Penang so he knows the area and can reproduce it and its culture during this time period.  There is much discussion of homosexuality and of the Chinese revolution to overthrow the Emperor.  The murder trial adds mystery while validating the cultural attitudes of the English who lived there and considered themselves above the native population.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.