Reviews - The House of Doors

1.11k reviews for:

The House of Doors

Tan Twan Eng

3.95 AVERAGE

madcrazyreviews's review

3.25

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A very sad, wistful book. Beautifully written.

bookbuyingaddict's review

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

alexlaird's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

benbru's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

medievalisting's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

cwill89's review

3.0

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

pact83's review

3.0

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sekulig's review

3.5

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

noellewymanroth's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective medium-paced

deedireads's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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!

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