The House of Doors

Penang, 1921

Willie wakes, considering Lesley’s tale, which was interrupted by Gerald’s return. He thinks there is more to Lesley’s sorrow than Robert’s affair and suspects Lesley had an affair with Sun. He makes notes in his journal, feeling optimistic about this inspiration for his writing. He visits Gerald on the beach and confesses his financial troubles. Gerald, seeming concerned for himself more than Willie, reacts with frustration.

Willie thinks back to the 1913 party where he met his wife, then recently separated from her first husband. They begin an affair, which Willie intends to be short-lived. Syrie falls pregnant; Willie doesn’t learn this until after she loses the pregnancy. Though Syrie is devastated, he is secretly happy. He says he won’t have a child with her while she is still married and prepares to depart for Boulogne, where he will serve as an ambulance driver in World War I. The day before his departure, Syrie reports she is pregnant again, which enrages Willie. He feels as though his service in the war means freedom, though he is horrified by the scope of the carnage he sees. At a makeshift hospital, he meets Gerald, and the two enjoy a quiet moment during a rare pause in bombings. Conversation about their post-war ambitions leads to flirtation, and the two begin their affair.

In the narrative present, Willie awaits Geoff’s arrival for their interview. He worries that Gerald will leave him now that he isn’t rich. Geoff arrives and asks questions Willie finds typical. He promotes his new book, On a Chinese Fan, using a comparison between English slums and Chinese villages. He credits his ability to get people to open up to him with his willingness to share his own secrets. They discuss Dr. Sun, and Geoff brags about his exclusive interview with the revolutionary. Willie hints at an affair between Lesley and Sun, but Geoff evades his probing comments.

Later, Willie inspects the photographs in A Man of the Southern Seas, Geoff’s book on Sun. He compares the overlaps in his own travels with Sun’s, though he considers how, at the time of Sun’s detainment in London, he and his friends were more concerned with the Oscar Wilde trials than with Chinese politics.

Penang, 1921

Lesley joins Willie in the sitting room, prepared to continue to her tale. Though she spent the day questioning her decision to tell Willie, feeling she is betraying Robert and Ethel, she feels unburdened by the telling.

Penang, 1910

Part I:

Sun becomes a regular visitor to the Hamlyns, which Lesley enjoys, though Robert and Sun’s conversations about Chinese politics leave her lost. Robert comments that the “reading club” and “philomatic society” that Sun often visits are really just fronts for Sun’s political party. Geoff learns of Sun and the Hamlyns’ friendship and requests an interview. Privately, Geoff commends her choice not to confront Robert about his affair, which Lesley has started to doubt, given the absence of gossip in their insular community, and reports no further news regarding Ethel’s case. Lesley frets over her friend, but Geoff reminds her that Ethel is in the “European women’s wing,” where cooking and leisure activities are encouraged (158).

Sun is disappointed at his lackluster fundraising, and Geoff’s interview is critical. Dr. Sun insists that he cannot give up his efforts to displace the Manchu government. He reasserts his dismissiveness of Straits Chinese, whom he sees as lacking loyalty to China. Geoff agrees to let Sun see the article before it runs and include any counterarguments Sun may have to Geoff’s comments. When Sun leaves to attend his reading club, Geoff and Lesley join him, though Geoff says it is not “proper” for Lesley to attend.

As they travel through Penang, Geoff and Lesley recall their childhood nanny, Ah Peng, who is now nanny to Lesley’s children, praying at a temple for lucky lottery numbers. They arrive at 120 Armenian Street, where Dr. Sun knocks, then waits to be identified through a spyhole. Inside, the group consists of men and women in both Chinese-influenced and European-style clothing. Sun gives an impassioned speech, which entrances both Geoff and Lesley. At home, Lesley journals about her experience and her newfound conviction that Sun will change the world. She attempts to read a Somerset Maugham novel, though she dislikes its focus on adultery. Robert returns home and chides her for her recklessness at attending Sun’s club, despite Lesley’s assertions she felt safe.

Part II:

The next morning, Lesley reads about Chinese history and philosophy from unification under the Chi’in dynasty to the 1839 Opium Wars, which she considers “utterly outrageous.” She reads about the Taiping Rebellion, pleased to discover its emphasis on gender equality. Discussing Chinese politics reinvigorates Lesley and Robert’s marriage, though they disagree on supporting Sun, as Lesley believes in his cause, but Robert cautions that involvement could be dangerous. She offers to check English translations of Sun’s pamphlets. Robert forbids Lesley to go to Tong Meng Hui headquarters, hinting at a racist dislike of his wife being seen with a Chinese man. After Sun departs, Lesley insists Robert apologize, and Robert counters that Lesley is attracted to Sun. Fed up, she asks about his affair, which he denies.

Part III:

Lesley travels to the Tong Meng Hui headquarters to retrieve the translated pamphlets, ultimately doing the work onsite. The work proves complicated, and when she breaks for tea with Arthur Loh, he asks why she cares about China. She returns the question, pointing out that Arthur is Straits Chinese and English-speaking. Arthur reveals his grandmother was a Taiping rebel, though she grew disillusioned with the cause, and is shocked at Lesley’s knowledge of the rebellion. Arthur cites his interest in China’s politics as arising after he visited China, inspired by his grandmother’s stories, and was shocked by the poverty and corruption he witnessed. Lesley confesses her interest arose from hearing Sun speak, which Arthur understands. He inspects Lesley’s editorial work and asks her to return the following week.

Part IV:

Lesley begins visiting Armenian Street weekly, which she doesn’t discuss with Robert. He begins returning home earlier in the evenings, but Lesley still searches for signs of infidelity, finding none. She dislikes Arthur’s interest in Ethel’s case, which he feels certain will never lead to Ethel, a white woman, being hanged. Arthur invites her to his house to see his “new doors,” which he collects from buildings being torn down. They are intricately painted and carved. Lesley worries at the impropriety of being alone in another man’s house, particularly a Chinese man, and realizes Arthur is uncomfortable with being seen with a white woman in his house. Even so, she explores the many intricate doors that line the walls and hang from the ceilings in Arthur’s house. He highlights his favorite, an 18th-century painting from a torn-down temple, which depicts “the Gods of the Doors,” based on two T’ang dynasty generals who stood vigil to protect their emperor from demons and spirits. His new acquisition depicts poetry composed by a Japanese samurai, moments before dying by suicide. Lesley is struck by the wonder of a man’s dying words enduring across centuries. She asks why Arthur’s own front doors are plain, which surprises him; he never thought to decorate his own doors. They agree that they like the idea of plain doors concealing the collection inside.

Part V:

Arthur invites Lesley to a fundraising party for Dr. Sun, but Lesley demurs, citing Robert’s disapproval. When Arthur asks, Lesley insists all is well with her husband. Sun arrives with a woman, Chui Fen, his partner of 20 years, though they are not legally married. Sun’s legal first wife will arrive in a few days. Arthur cautions Lesley against judgment. She asks if Arthur’s marriage is arranged, and he says it was, discussing it matter-of-factly. He counters Lesley’s questions about romantic love by turning them back on her, asking if she loves Robert. Lesley doesn’t answer, instead asking if Dr. Sun has a third wife. Arthur says he does, and it is the one he loves the most: China itself.

Part VI:

A monsoon approaches Penang. Ah Peng gives Lesley papers that another servant found in Robert’s pockets, which includes a love note from Robert’s assistant, Peter Ong, with whom he is in Kuala Lumpur for a week of trial. Lesley feels self-recrimination for Robert’s affair, which is compounded by anti-gay bias. She resolves to keep the affair a secret. She asks Ah Peng if she regrets marrying, but Ah Peng derides regret as useless. Lesley recalls going with Ah Peng to the Penang letter-writer, who read and wrote letters to Ah Peng’s family in China. Lesley asks if Ah Peng wishes to return to her home village, but the woman says her family has died.