A young writer recalls his acquaintance with Charles Strickland, a dull, prosperous stockbroker who one day walks out on his wife and children to become a painter. In Paris he lives in squalor, repays the generosity of the kindly Dutch painter Dirk Stroeve with ruin, and finally makes his way to the South Seas.
A portrait of ruthless artistic genius loosely drawn from the life of Paul Gauguin, told in Maugham’s cool, worldly voice. Download the free EPUB.