Anywhere: somerset maugham (Keywords)

Biographer Selina Hastings has had access to Maugham's extensive private correspondence as well as to important family testimony, to shed new light on this complex and extraordinary writer.

Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker, abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. He gains the freedom to achieve greatness, but develops an obsession which carries severe implications.

This classic collection of short stories moves from England, France and Spain to the silver sands of the South Pacific. It includes Miss King, The Hairless Mexican, His Excellency and Mr Harrington's washing.

This is the story of Kitty Fane, the adulterous wife of a bacteriologist stationed in Hong Kong. When her husband discovers her deception, he exacts a terrible vengeance: Kitty must accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic in China.

Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. Whilst his betrayal of family, duty and honour gives him the freedom to achieve greatness, his decision leads to an obsession which carries severe implications.

When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.

Newly widowed after an unhappy marriage, Mary Panton finds tranquillity in a beautiful villa in the hills above Florence. From this haven of peace, she contemplates a second marriage. But then a tragic rush of events destroy her serenity.

This classic collection of short stories moves from Malaya to America and England. It includes Flotsam and Jetsam, The Man with the Scar and The Vessel of Truth.

On his way home, Dr Saunders meets the treacherous Captain Nichols and his passenger, the murderous Fred Blake. Sheltering from a storm on the island of Kanda they meet Louise, and their story becomes one of love, jealousy, murder and suicide.

Maugham paints a vivid picture of public and private life in the Italian Renaissance through its most famous son Machiavelli, the 16th century statesman, schemer and seducer.

Charlie Mason is 23, good-looking, well-mannered, and has a happy disposition. After three years at Cambridge and one in his father's business, he is now looking forward to a jaunt in Paris with Simon, his oldest friend. But Paris is not what he expects.

Bertha Ley sees marriage to Edward Craddock as a chance to escape from the quiet life she leads with her aunt, and to experience true love. But as the passion dies, she finds herself trapped in an oppressively incongruous marriage.

This classic collection of short stories moves from England, France and Spain to the silver sands of the South Pacific. It includes the famous story Rain, The Three Fat Women of Antibes, The Voice of The Turtle and Before The Party.

Of Human Bondage is a semi-autobiographical novel of love and the obsession of Philip Carey for the waitress Mildred Rogers. The book was first published in 1911.

Far Eastern Tales brings together a selection of Somerset Maugham's stories inspired by his travels in Singapore, Malaya and other exotic parts of the former British Empire.

In the drab slums of Lambeth, Liza is the darling of Vere St. She has a boyfriend called Tom, but when she meets Jim, a married man new to the area, she is immediately attracted, and before long their passionate affair is no longer a secret.