Synopses & Reviews
He was a brilliant teller of tales, one of the most widely read authors of the twentieth century, and at one time the most famous writer in the world, yet W. Somerset Maughams own true story has never been fully told. At last, the truth is revealed in a landmark biography by the award-winning writer Selina Hastings. Granted unprecedented access to Maughams personal correspondence and to newly uncovered interviews with his only child, Hastings portrays the secret loves, betrayals, integrity, and passion that inspired Maugham to create such classics as The Razors Edge and Of Human Bondage. Portrayed in full for the first time is Maughams disastrous marriage to Syrie Wellcome, a manipulative society woman who trapped Maugham with a pregnancy and an attempted suicide. Hastings also explores Maughams many affairs with men, including his great love, Gerald Haxton, an alcoholic charmer. Maughams work in secret intelligence during two world wars is described in fascinating detailexperiences that provided the inspiration for the groundbreaking Ashenden stories. From the West End to Broadway, from China to the South Pacific, Maughams remarkably productive life is thrillingly recounted as Hastings uncovers the real stories behind such classics as Rain, The Painted Veil, Cakes & Ale, and other well-known tales.
Synopsis
An epic biography of a hugely talented and hugely conflicted man, now in paperback for the first time.
About the Author
Selina Hastings worked at the Daily Telegraph before becoming the literary editor for Harpers & Queen. She is the author of Nancy Mitford, Rosamond Lehmann, and Evelyn Waugh: A Biography, which won the Marsh Biography Award. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she has been a judge of the Booker, Whitbread, British Academy, Ondaatje, and Duff Cooper prizes, and of the UK Biographers' Award. She lives in England.