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3: A Reckless Decision

As Lesley feels her grasp on the past slipping away, she decides to tell Willie her story - a story of adultery and murder, and one that could blow her marriage apart...

Based on real events, Tan Twan Eng's new novel of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.

Penang, 1921: Lesley Hamlyn and her husband Robert are visited by Willie, an old friend of Robert's, known to the world as the great novelist Somerset Maugham.

Willie is in an unhappy marriage, suddenly penniless and now struggling to write. But before he leaves to face his demons, Lesley finds herself confessing to him her innermost secrets, concerning a Chinese revolutionary and an Englishwoman accused of murder. What she tells him, could blow her marriage apart.

Today: When Lesley starts to feel her past slipping away, she recklessly decides to tell Willie the story of what happened to her ten years before...

Writer: Tan Twan Eng
Readers: Hattie Morahan + Julian Rhind-Tutt
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett

14 minutes

Last on

Wed 31 May 2023 22:45

Broadcast

  • Wed 31 May 2023 22:45