(typewriter dinging) (gentle music) (typewriter clicking) - [Twan] I'm Tan Twan Eng, and this is is "The House of Doors."

(gentle music continues) It's about how stories get passed from one person to another, how they change from that process, how the stories are transformed by each person when they pass the stories on to the next person and across time as well.

(gentle music continues) - You made what I think to be a really bold choice of writing a really beautiful work of fiction about a real-life novelist.

You didn't just choose a, you know, an unknown author.

This is Somerset Maugham- - No, yes.

- [Jeremy] You could've gotten away with fictionalizing his life, but you decided to stay true to his story.

Why did you decide that?

- Well, his story was already so exciting and interesting and colorful.

There really was no need for me to fictionalize him, and in fact, I had to cut out a lot of the more exciting and colorful sequences of his life, much to my regret.

(gentle music continues) - [Jeremy] Did you know much about his life and how he really suffered in his marriage because of his homosexuality?

- I just knew the vague outlines.

I read, I think, almost every biography that was written about him.

I read his novels.

I read his short stories.

I read books by people who loved him and hated him.

That's more interesting when you read about people who hated him.

Just to get a really authentic picture of the man.

- Can you talk about his struggle?

- He struggled all his life.

He was born in Paris, but his parents died when he was seven or eight years old.

And he had to go back to England.

Somerset Maugham spoke English with a French accent.

So when he was sent to boarding school, he was very much bullied.

And that's where his lifelong stammer started.

He never got over that.

And of course, also, he was gay.

I think he was 20 years old when the Oscar Wilde trials happened.

So that terrified him and made him very careful with his real self all his life.

- Twan, thank you for doing this.

It's a gorgeous book, and I'm so glad to see its success.

- Thank you, Jeremy.

- And thank you for watching "A Word on Words."

I'm Jeremy Finley.

Remember, keep reading.

(bell ringing) - [Twan] Sharing meals warms our stomachs, but sharing stories warms our hearts.