Apr 28

Apr 28 The House of Doors

About the book

Author: Tan Twan Eng
Publisher: Bloomsbury

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

I didn’t go into The House of Doors with any expectations outside of those that go with its Booker Prize nomination, and yet I still found myself pleasantly surprised. It had a lot of momentum — in, fact, I’d even go so far as to call it much plottier than most Booker books. That’s not a bad thing, by the way. I was invested and really enjoyed it.

The coolest part about this book is that it’s sort of meta–historical fiction. (William) Somerset Maugham, a famous author in the early 1900s, wrote a collection called The Casuarina Tree, which contained a story called “The Letter.” That story was based on real events. This book fictionalizes Maugham’s trip to Penang, where a friend told him about the events that eventually made it into “The Letter.” And in this book, The Casuarina Tree and “The Letter” both also eventually get published.

And yet that’s not even the main plot. The story is told across three timelines, with plenty of flashback as the main character confesses a secret personal history to Maugham. I don’t want to tell you too much about it because the joy is in the discovery, but Eng gives us much to think about when it comes to secrets, fidelity, marriage, gender roles, and what it means to live a good life full of love.

The writing is perhaps a bit more flowery than some people will like, but I enjoyed it. The setting really came to life, and the story was gripping. Glad I read it!