One of the great novels of artistic obsession, The Moon and Sixpence follows Charles Strickland, a respectable London stockbroker who abruptly abandons his family and conventional life in pursuit of painting.

Loosely inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, the novel traces Strickland's transformation from bourgeois success story into a figure of near-mythic creative ferocity, willing to sacrifice comfort, relationships and morality in service of art. What makes the book endure is Maugham's refusal to romanticise genius. Strickland is neither hero nor villain but something more unsettling: a person consumed by a need that exists outside ordinary social values. The novel becomes an inquiry into creativity, selfishness, beauty and the cost of living according to a singular vision. Beneath its elegant prose sits a surprisingly modern question: what happens when authenticity and responsibility become irreconcilable?

W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was among the most widely read writers of the twentieth century, known for his sharp psychological insight, worldly perspective and deceptively simple style. The Moon and Sixpence, first published in 1919, remains one of his most celebrated works and a touchstone for novels about art and artistic vocation.

1990 Mandarin Paperback edition. Good condition with light shelf wear, age toning to pages and a previous bookseller sticker to the front cover. Binding remains solid and the text is clean throughout.