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the_painted_veil_a

The Painted Veil is based on the 1926 play by W. Somerset Vaughn. On a brief trip back to London, earnest doctor Walter Fane, played by Edward Norton is dazzled by Kitty Garstin, played by Naomi Watts, a vivacious and vain London socialite. He proposes; she accepts but only to get away from her mother, and the couple travel on to Walter’s medical post in Shanghai, where he is stationed in a government lab studying infectious diseases. They find themselves ill-suited. Kitty is much more interested in parties and social life

She has an affair a married British diplomat. When Walter finds out, he threatens to divorce her unless she accompanies him to a small village in remote China, where he’s volunteered to treat victims of cholera. Kitty begs to be allowed to divorce him quietly, but he refuses. He’s determined to make Kitty as unhappy and uncomfortable as possible. They will be living in near squalor, far removed from everyone except their cheerful neighbor Waddington, a British deputy commissioner living with a young Chinese woman in relative opulence.

Walter and Kitty barely speak to each other and, except for a cook and a Chinese soldier assigned to guard her, she is alone for long hours. Out of boredom she goes to the orphanage and begins to work in order to pass the time. It is then that she begins to truly value and admire her husband for the first time. While seeing his wife with the children of the orphanage he recalls when he first met her and he falls in love with her again. As Walter’s anger and Kitty’s unhappiness subside, their marriage begins to blossom in the midst of the epidemic crisis.

I love the way Kitty’s character evolves. She finds happiness when she finally sees her worth and that of her husband and realizes what they can have together.

chinese chicken

Chinese Chicken

This is one of my go to meals. It’s quick. It’s easy and hubby loves it.

Brown 1 lb chicken tenders in 3 T olive oil. Add seasoning (salt, pepper Soy sauce). Stir in 1 package frozen Asian vegetables. Cook until slightly tender. Add 1/2 to 1 can water chestnuts. Serve over rice or dry noodles. Serves 4