W. Somerset Maugham

The Painted Veil é o nome da obra literária de William Somerset Maugham, que mais tarde foi adaptado ao cinema em O Despertar de Uma Paixão.

Set in a villa in the hills above Florence, this moving novel reveals the power of desperate love. Mary Panton ignores her desires as she contemplates her loveless marriage, but a single act of compassion begins a nightmare of violence that destroys her serenity.

Human nature and sexuality are not easy to overcome, to say the least. Anyone who has tried to uphold beliefs and ideals that went against the nature of what their own bodies would require - from nourishment to sex, and everything in between - failed quite miserably. This is precisely the point that W. Somerset …

No centro da trama deste romance esta Philip Carey, estudante de medicina que, por ser manco, e rejeitado pela sociedade. Ao lado dele surge a sedutora Mildred, que desafia o orgulho intelectual de Philip. Para conquista-la, ele se sujeita a forma mais vil de escravidao: a renuncia a propria dignidade.