The Painted Veil
by William Somerset Maughamliterary work· published 1925
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The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by British author W. Somerset Maugham. The title is a reference to Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1824 sonnet, which begins "Lift not the painted veil which those who live / Call Life". The novel was first published in serialised form in five issues of Cosmopolitan (November 1924 – March 1925). Beginning in December 1924, it was serialised in the United Kingdom in eight parts in [Nash's Magazine, v.74, issue 380 (Dec. 1924) pp.10-87, then monthly until v.75, issue 387 (July 1925), pp. 56-72]. The biographer Richard Cordell notes that the novel was influenced by Maugham's study of science and his work as a houseman at St Thomas' Hospital.
Adaptations (2)
The Painted Veil has been adapted into 2 films, from 1934 to 2006.
The Painted Veil1934 · film · 85 min · dir. Richard Boleslawski · IMDb ↗IMDb6.5The wife of a doctor in China falls in love with a diplomat.
The Painted Veil2006 · film · 125 min · dir. John Curran · IMDb ↗A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
