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 Maugham’s 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 Maugham’s 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 Razor’s Edge and Of Human Bondage. Portrayed in full for the first time is Maugham’s disastrous marriage to Syrie Wellcome, a manipulative society woman who trapped Maugham with a pregnancy and an attempted suicide. Hastings also explores Maugham’s many affairs with men, including his great love, Gerald Haxton, an alcoholic charmer. Maugham’s work in secret intelligence during two world wars is described in fascinating detail—experiences that provided the inspiration for the groundbreaking Ashenden stories. From the West End to Broadway, from China to the South Pacific, Maugham’s 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.

Provides information on Maugham's life and career. Discusses important biographical and literary events in the author's life.

An instinctive and magnificent storyteller, Somerset Maugham was one of the most popular and successful writers of his time. He published seventy-eight books -- including the undisputed classics Of Human Bondage and The Razor’s Edge -- which sold over 40 million copies in his lifetime. Born in Paris to sophisticated parents, Willie Maugham was orphaned at the age of ten and brought up in a small English coastal town by narrow-minded relatives. He was trained as a doctor, but never practiced medicine. His novel Ashenden, based on his own espionage for Britain in World War I, influenced writers from Eric Ambler to John le Carr?. After a failed affair with an actress, he married another man’s mistress, but reserved his greatest love for a man who shared his life for nearly thirty years. He traveled the world and spoke several languages. Despite a debilitating stutter, and an acerbic and formal manner, he entertained literary celebrities and royalty at his villa in the south of France. He made a fortune from his writing--the short story “Rain” alone earned him a million dollars–yet true critical recognition, and the esteem of his literary peers, eluded him. The life of Somerset Maugham, as told by acclaimed biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is an intriguing, glamorous, complex, and extraordinary account of one of the twentieth century’s most enduring writers. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Interior designer Syria Maugham created an ultra-chic world that was as unique as it was influential. Metcalf celebrates the work of this legendary British designer in the first comprehensive study of her dramatic life and meteoric career.

At what point did the British develop their mania for interiors, wallpaper, furniture, and decoration? Richly illustrated, 'Household Gods' chronicles 100 years of British interiors, focusing on class, choice, shopping and possessions.

William Somerset Maugham was one of the most popular and successful British writers of his time. From October 1897, when he completed his medical education at St. Thomas's Hospital in London, until his death in December 1965, Maugham wrote twenty novels, filled nine volumes with his short stories, wrote thirty-one plays, and published seven volumes of prose nonfiction. His writings reflect the tensions of the Boer War, World War I, and World War II; the lavishness of the highest levels of British and American society during the first six decades of the 20th century; the glamor of Hollywood, Paris, New York, San Francisco, and London; and the romance of China, Malaya, Borneo, and India. His popularity brought him prosperity. At a 1962 auction, 35 of his paintings sold for nearly $1.5 million; bequests in his will totaled $280,000; his royalties during the last ten years of his life averaged $50,000 per year; and his Riviera estate, purchased in 1927 for $48,000, sold for $730,000 in 1967. This reference book is a guide to Maugham's fascinating life and career. The volume begins with a brief discussion of the importance of Maugham's life and work, followed by a detailed chronology of important biographical and literary events. Through several hundred alphabetically arranged entries, the encyclopedia overviews Maugham's drama, fiction, and prose nonfiction; his family; the persons whom he knew and with whom he associated; the places where he lived and to which he journeyed, particularly the cities and villages that he inserted into his works; and the historical, cultural, social, and political issues that governed his life and career. Each entry closes with a brief bibliography, and the volume includes a selected bibliography of critical studies.

A privileged chance to see Rose Uniacke's work in the form of a private tour of her London home-the crucible for all her design ideas-in her first book, produced as a limited edition of 2,500 copies. Airy and light, delicate and robust, grand and intimate, raw and luxurious: these are just some of the qualities and contradictions that resonate within the work and home of Rose Uniacke. This sumptuous volume, the first on the designer, has been conceived with Uniacke to her bespoke specifications. Masterfully photographed by François Halard, the book unfolds gatefold after gatefold as a series of privileged glimpses inside Uniacke's home, with the designer's own words as our guide-an intimate and exclusive portrait of a home rarely gained access to as well as a window onto the workings of one of our leading design minds. Her work is distinguished by warmth, character, and an extraordinary serenity, and mirroring these qualities the book is a luxury object made from some of the same materials featured in Uniacke's home: a unique cotton duck canvas slipcase houses the book itself, which is wrapped in pure new wool. Completing this indispensable book in design history are texts from the architect of Uniacke's home, Vincent Van Duysen, and her landscape architect, Tom Stuart-Smith.