The House of Doors

Reviews

An amazingly transporting novel about love, desire, and duty, The House of Doors does what the very best stories do — it draws us into many fascinating worlds at once: The British Empire's incursions into South-East Asia; the secret life of one of England's finest writers; a forgotten murder trial playing out in the Kuala Lumpur courts a century ago. Weaving all this together with great skill and power, bringing the reader a surfeit of pleasure, Tan Twan Eng also teaches us a crucial lesson: never trust a writer. The House of Doors is brilliantly observed and full of memorable characters. It is so well-written, everything so effortlessly dramatized, the narrative so well structured and paced, that this is a book that will mesmerize readers far into the future. Captivating . . . exquisite. . . I'll remember The House of Doors for its smart cross-cultural excursions and its indelible images. Tan effortlessly fuses fiction and fact as he paints a portrait of Maugham’s trip to Malaysia, his desperate search for a new writing subject, colonialism, and the restraints of heteronormative marriage. [Tan] keeps getting better . . . Mesmerizing. The book’s elaborate structure is itself a house of many doors, a metaphor for the hidden truths within . . . Eng employs masterful control, and we follow his thread to a satisfying ending. Brilliant. The House of Doors is propelled by fascinating characters, the tension over their gradual revelations and Eng's exquisite writing . . . an arresting, melancholy story about romantic complications. Vibrant . . . [Tan] excels at setting an atmospheric mood, whether it be in a bustling and exotic enclave or a home where secrets are traded over tea and gin. Based on actual events, [The House of Doors] plumbs timeless issues of race, gender, and sexuality . . . Sublime, elegant prose from the mind of a gifted storyteller. Tan Twan Eng spins a tale of colonial scandal and intrigue in The House of Doors . . . solid, well-crafted . . . engrossing. Exquisite . . . Tan takes on a behemoth task here: combining sensational fact and intimate fiction in a British colonial Asian setting complicated by white privilege, politics, social hypocrisy, gender inequity, racism, homophobia, and more . . . [He] succeeds in delivering another intricate literary gift. The narrative dwells on memory and loss, its lush, dreamy prose evoking the bygone days of colonial pre-WWII British Malaya amid musings on life’s ephemeral nature, while never losing its eye for injustice . . . This is a stunner. The House of Doors is a fascinating, beautiful book . . . One doesn’t have to know anything about Somerset Maugham to appreciate it, but the echoes make the work even richer. Expertly constructed, tightly plotted and richly atmospheric. What elevates Eng’s book is the sheer beauty of his writing – restrained, elegant, precise, every detail accurate, every line considered . . . He resides in the very top row. The sentences here remind me of Shirley Hazzard, or perhaps James Salter. I can offer little higher praise. An ambitious, elaborate fiction about fictions . . . a portrait of the artist in crisis, a meditation on how and why we tell stories and a heated courtroom drama. Entrancing . . . lushly atmospheric . . . There's much to untangle and savor in this exquisite novel . . . Tan has pulled off not just a captivating novel, but an ingenious twist that explores how literature works its magic. Lyrical and lovely . . . This book transports readers . . . and its more than worth the price of the ticket. A magnetic tale of love, betrayal, and colonialism. Atmospheric . . . Tan Twan Eng weaves love, duty, betrayal, colonialism, and redemption into the narrative. Beguiling . . . A wonderful antidote to comfort us in these perilous times. Graceful and well-researched. Tan’s eye for detail and understated storytelling bring a subtle edge to this thoughtful, atypical historical novel that searches for the emotional truth behind the facts. Tan’s novel, gripping for any reader, holds special appeal for fans of Maugham and his work . . . [It] plays clever games with the connections between fiction and history. Outstanding . . . The House of Doors again displays [Eng's] talent for atmospheric evocation of place and period . . . Beautifully detailed and encompassing the vagaries of Maugham's life . . . The House of Doors is a finely accomplished piece of work. This is historical fiction at its best—a novel that doesn't feel as though it was written about a time but rather as though it was written directly from that time. The House of Doors is immersive, transporting, and exquisitely crafted. The House of Doors is a tremendous feat of literary imagination. Highly evocative, richly observed and entirely convincing, it is a tour de force! This marvelous novel evokes the British empire in its final heyday. Sun Yat Sen, the great fighter for Chinese independence, appears in its pages, as does that masterly betrayer of expatriate secrets, the short story writer Somerset Maugham. In fact, Tan Twan Eng’s gripping book could almost have been written by Maugham himself. Tan’s talent as a writer is obvious . . . his prose is lush and effortless. A gorgeous meditation on the power of storytelling . . . Tan weaves a braided and intricate plot, bringing his characters to life with prose that is lush and evocative. [Tan] can write with lyrical generosity and beautiful tact . . . lovely, drifting, dreamlike . . . Exquisite. Tan weaves era-specific details with timeless human desires, creating an evocative, immersive reading experience. This novel reimagines the events surrounding the 1921 visit by writer W. Somerset Maugham to friends in Penang, Malaysia, which would inspire his book of short stories The Casuarina Tree … Tan introduces a contemporary, nuanced take on the psychological complexity of the period … [Tan] crafts a novel that has much to say about the very art of narrative crafting, and structurally functions as something of an infinity mirror held up to a repeating interplay between fiction and nonfiction. The House of Doors will draw you into its mesh of secrets and subterfuge. [This] exquisitely atmospheric novel has the high gloss of a 1940s Hollywood melodrama . . . Out of these characters’ stifled yearnings and rare moments of transcendence, Tan has made a ravishingly romantic novel. In this bold historical fiction, he courageously exposes his motherland’s flaws, exploring thorny issues of race, racism, gender and gender preference, bigotry, infidelity, and colonial power in richly mannered, atmospheric, and expressive prose, which is simply beautiful . . . no one can argue with the ambition, ardency, and achievement of Eng’s complex latest. Expand reviews