Book description
Julia Lambert is in her prime, the greatest actress in England. Off
stage, however, she is bored with her handsome husband, coquettish and
undisciplined. She is at first flattered and amused by the attentions of
a shy and eager young fan, but before long Julia is amazed to find
herself falling wildly, dangerously, in love. William Somerset Maugham
was born in 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at
King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some
time at St. Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising medicine, but
the success of his first novel,
Liza of Lambeth
, published in 1897, won him over to literature. Of Human Bondage
, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the
publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence
his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame
as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with
acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several
short story collections. His other works include travel books, essays,
criticism and the autobiographical The Summing Up
and A Writer's Notebook.
In 1927 Somerset Maugham settled in the South of France and lived there
until his death in 1965
