A bit more can be said about The Painted Veil as well. The author, a bisexual with some experience in various matters addressed in the book, provides what might be deemed a sort of woman self-actualization account. A shallow woman, who knows she is shallow, eventually is disgusted with herself. Kitty, who fell into an affair with a successful man who is shallow and accepting of it (it is noted such will help him get ahead in the world, not to make waves), in the end wants to be her own person, and raise her child to be one as well. A little speech she gives to her father at the end underlines the point.
The Wikipedia account notes that a libel suit actually led "Hong Kong" at one point (not in my version) to be replaced by a fictional colony. The implication that cad of an assistant secretary was somehow based on actual English officials underlines a subtext in the novel. The character is on the outside alluring, having a sheen of respectability, but deep down is selfish and shallow. The custom official that befriends Kitty is positive character because he is properly cynical about things. The book also suggests the shallowness of the pursuit of better social position and how men submit to what is expected of them in that respect.
The nuns are seen as a positive influence but it is notable that (along with the wife of the assistant secretary), they are in some fashion tricked into thinking she is but a loving wife, who traveled to a cholera invested area out of the goodness of her heart. There is some sense that the Mother Superior can see through Kitty somewhat, but it is never made apparent (as compared to Waddington, the custom officials) she knows the loving couple image is a sham. On the other hand, perhaps she knows a bit about Kitty's true self, her potential to be a better person.
In the movie version, her husband has a bigger part, helped by the fact that the actor who plays him had a significant role in bringing the film to screen. The actor has noted that he thought the book bleak and the film changed some things. The couple in the film patched things up more, including having sex, so things weren't so bleak when he died as in the novel. In the novel, Kitty wants him to forgive her because of her growing respect for him -- he loved her deeply once, she never did (perhaps in the end), so her betrayal made him hate himself. An allusion right before he died to the last line of this poem was a telling point.
But, I think the book did have a hopeful quality. This was that Kitty truly believed in herself. Horrible things happened, but she no longer was that shallow girl, but someone who could hope the next generation will be different. She is therefore a good symbol of sorts for his age -- the book written in the 1920s. The film also has a coda where Kitty with her son Walter (in the book, she hopes for a girl, so she can raise her not to be as she was raised) meets Charles Townsend. She tells her young son that he is no one of importance.
The book is more biting. She last meets him while pregnant, denying it is his child. He says he isn't so sure, Kitty thinking that he wants control of her forever. Not having seen much of the movie, I don't know if it also has her stop by Hong Kong on the way home (perhaps not, since it doesn't sound like she went to Bermuda with her father as in the novel) to stay for a time with the Townsends, invited by the wife. At one point distraught and in tears, Townsend seduces her one last time. After, he is pleased with himself. She is horrified, feeling like a slut. We understand why she fell for him, more than her herself probably, and feel (well, I did upon reflection) Townsend in effect raped her, given she was in no emotional state to truly control her actions.
Powerful stuff. We see things through Kitty's eyes, including how she feels other people view her. I'm not sure if she was ever wrong, but it is useful to remember that she can very well be an imperfect judge. This is shown by her realization of how subjective her view of CT is. Sometimes, he seems like a perfect specimen, others a rather unpleasant sort, an aging cad. It rests in large part on how she is feeling for him, how she sees him on the inside. The views of others of her very well can be seen through a similar lens.
I would end by noting that the book is very readable. Some classics (if this be one) are fairly hard going in that respect. A tedious affair. This one was easy reading, not simple or anything, but quite appropriate for mainstream high school reading. It also was not too long. I'm glad to find some classic works worthwhile reading, not just something one reads for school or as some mental enrichment enterprise.