Book description
Set in the bohemian café society of Paris at the turn of the
nineteenth century, Maugham's exploration of hypnotism and the occult
was inspired by the sinister black magician Aleister Crowley. At the
start of this compulsive gothic horror story, Arthur and his beautiful,
innocent fiancée Margaret look forward to an idyllic life together,
until they encounter the mesmerising and repulsive Oliver Haddo...
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
