The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (2006, Unabridged, MP3 CD)

Maugham’s complex account of a silly, shallow woman who grows spiritually despite herself, stands as eloquent testimony to the unfathomable realm of human possibility. Kitty Fane marries a devoted and well-respected medical researcher she neither likes nor loves, and they settle in Hong Kong. Within two years she has an affair with a handsome diplomat, her vanity causing her to overestimate her importance to him. Her aggrieved husband finds out and offers her an ultimatum: follow him into mainland China where a cholera-ravaged town is in desperate need of health care, or endure divorce litigation. Her lover’s disappointing reaction causes her to choose the former option. Confronted with a tragedy far more significant than her own, as well as with the selfless examples of her husband and some dedicated nuns, she ultimately learns the meaning and value of love.

Kate Reading’s narration uses only two voices: one male and one female, but her intelligent, expressive performance makes her characters of either gender most convincing. She fully captures the irony that defines Kitty, a not particularly good person who nevertheless becomes an admirable one.