By W Somerset MaughamKitty Fane is a beautiful but shallow young woman living in privilege in 1920s London. She spurns a succession of suitors until her homely younger sister accepts a marriage proposal. Not wanting to be a spinster at Doris's wedding, Kitty accepts the first offer that comes her way. Walter is a serious type, a bacteriologist working in Hong Kong. Though the two are badly mismatched, Walter is smitten while Kitty looks on him as a boring, but preferable, alternate to becoming an old maid. When they get to Hong Kong, a charming British government official flirts with Kitty, and the two start a tumultuous affair. Walter finds out and confronts Kitty. Wanting to save them both from a shameful divorce, he announces he's going to a remote area ravaged by a cholera epidemic where he will replace a missionary doctor who has just died. Kitty fears certain death, and decides she'll divorce Walter and marry Charlie, but - alas - Charlie has no intentions of leaving his sensible wife and 3 sons. With no alternative, Kitty heads out with Walter where he works tirelessly too stem the deadly cholera epidemic, working in his lab till late at night and treating patents of all ages. The Catholic nuns at the nearby orphanage are charmed not only by Walter's devotion to the little ones but also by his obvious love of babies. Kitty and a Chinese-speaking friend visit the orphanage where Kitty is suddenly struck by the great needs of these little ones and the selflessness of the sisters - as well as her own selfishness and the stupidity of her affair with vain Charlie. Seeking a deeper meaning for her life, she asks the nuns to let her help care for the children. Here, Kitty is totally transformed, and hoping to make peace with a husband she does not love, yet has come to respect. An unexpected death - and an unexpected pregnancy - thwart those plans but leave Kitty nevertheless a changed woman.
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