The Painted Veil

by Somerset Maugham

I'd read some Maugham years ago, during a classics phase, and loved it -- but for some strange reason I never tried again.
This book was so lovely, so spare and unflinching. The characters were very unique and finely drawn, I loved that.
In a nutshell, the book takes place in China before the Japanese make their life hell (late 1920s?). The characters are British colonials, government officials, missionaries and professionals. The Chinese are background characters in this story, which makes it seem racist and appropriate at the same time because that's how the colonials lived -- not as part of the country they were in but apart.
The story is told from the vantage point of an upper class shallow, vain English woman and it's astounding how well written she is, as the author is a woman.