One of Thailand’s best-known and most highly regarded novels, portraying the romance of a young Thai man and a married older woman

‘In that tranquil and apparently very ordinary picture, I see everything unfolding. Every scene, every part, from the beginning to the final act’

Nopporn, a Thai student studying in Japan, is tasked with hosting a distinguished old family friend and his new wife, the beautiful, aristocratic Kirati. Despite their difference in age and status, and the social constraints of the day, Nopporn and Kirati are inexorably drawn to each other, and love starts to bloom. A stirring portrayal of youthful romantic obsession, and later attempts to come to terms with the frailty of passionate feelings, Behind the Painting also shows the constrained lives of many women of the time. First published in 1937, it is one of Thailand’s best-known and most beloved novels.

Translated by David Smyth

Siburapha (Author)
Kulap Saipradit (1905-74), better known by his pen name Siburapha, was a prominent newspaper editor and novelist. A vocal critic of the military rulers of the day, he was imprisoned on two occasions and spent the last sixteen years of his life in exile in China.

David Smyth (Translator)
David Smyth is the author of a biography of Siburapha and has translated several other classic Thai novels, including The Battle of Life (also by Siburapha), The Prostitute and The Dreams of an Idealist.