Description
A TALE OF ART AND OBSESSION • W. Somerset Maugham’s bold novel of sacrifice and desire, inspired by the life of painter Paul Gauguin.
Charles Strickland is an ordinary London stockbroker. A husband, a father, a man of duty. Until, one day, he abandons it all—his family, his career, his comfortable life—to pursue painting. Drawn first to Paris and then to the South Seas, Strickland lives in poverty and isolation, consumed by a vision only he can see. His choices scandalise those around him, but his relentless pursuit of art becomes a fierce meditation on freedom, passion, and the cost of genius.
First published in 1919, W. Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence shocked readers with its portrait of a man who rejects convention for an uncompromising devotion to creativity. Written in Maugham’s lucid and unsparing prose, the novel explores the clash between social responsibility and individual desire. Its influence endures, inspiring countless readers to consider what it means to create, to sacrifice, and to live authentically. “A man’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened,” Maugham reflects—a line that captures the novel’s restless spirit.
This Feel Classics edition makes the novel accessible to a new generation. Featuring a thoughtful introduction, explanatory notes, glossary, and a detailed chronology of Maugham’s life, it is ideal for students, first-time readers, and literature enthusiasts alike.
A daring, unforgettable classic that still speaks to anyone who has ever dreamed of choosing the moon over the sixpence at their feet.
