W. Somerset Maugham Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Collected Short Stories of/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

For much of his 90 years on Earth, Somerset Maugham was one of the most admired authors on the globe. In almost every English speaking country, his novels and short stories had immense acclaim.

“Of Human Bondage” which is one of the best works he ever published would go on to become one of the twentieth century’s most widely read works of fiction. His novels would later on be translated into dozens of languages, as it was dramatized and millions of copies would be sold.

His notoriety would bring him enormous wealth and celebrity, and he would often be pursued by journalists whenever he went. It does seem that at some point he was known to and was friends with everyone from DH Lawrence to Henry James from Dorthy Parker to Winston Churchill.

Maugham was born to a British father then living in Paris, as he was legal advisor to the British embassy. As such, Maugham grew up in France as a child and spoke French as his first language before he learned English in his youth.

Upon the death of his parents, he was sent to England where he attended King’s School, Canterbury. However, it was not a great time in England as his pronounced stammer and delicate health made him a target for bullies and even teachers.

He would then go to Heidelberg University and after graduation, he proceeded to St. Thomas’s Hospital London to become a medical student.
It was at this time that he experienced slum life while working at the hospital. His experiences would be the inspiration for the 1897 published “Liza of Lambeth,” his debut.

Following his graduation as a doctor, he quit medicine as he intended to pursue a career as an author.

W Somerset Maugham would go on to write several distinguished works. He would become one of England’s most popular playwrights when he published the phenomenally successful “Lady Frederick.”

Maugham would also become a notable writer of social comedies during the 1920s, even though he had written what was arguably his greatest work in “Of Human Bondage” in 1915.

During the First World War, he worked in Russia and France for British intelligence. Between 1919 and 1930, he wrote more than half a dozen novels and many short stories that would be in collections such as the 1926 published “The Casuarina Tree.”

In 1940, W Somerset Maugham was forced to flee France as the Nazis invaded. He moved to the United States where he led a very quiet life and went back after the war in 1944. “The Razor’s Edge,” which would be his last important work, was published in 1944.

“Of Human Bondage” by W. Somerset Maugham is the story of Philip, the son of a very successful surgeon who dies of blood poisoning in 1885. The doctor leaves behind his son Philip and a pregnant wife in fragile health.

Mrs. Carew is not very good at managing money and things get even tougher when she dies giving birth to a stillborn baby. Philip is taken in by the vicar of Blackstable, his paternal uncle William of London.
Louisa and William are a childless couple that give their all to parenting Philip. Still the vicar is an obtuse and thrifty man who suffers the lack of affection from her husband but loves Philip like he was her own.

The child is brought up in the vicarage and lives the very same life that his uncle and aunt had lived for years before he joined them.

Growing up he does not have many peers and he becomes a lonely and solitary youth. He is not allowed to play any games on Sunday and has to complete tough memorization assignments from a prayer book.

But when he is given an illustrated book, his lifelong passion for literature begins.

W Somerset Maugham’s novel “The Razor’s Edge” opens to Elliot visiting his sister in Chicago. He takes the liberty to invite Maugham to a luncheon on Lake Shore Drive, where he gets the opportunity to meet the radiant and tall Isabel, who makes quite an impression on him.

He also meets Laurence Darell, a shy and pleasant looking youth who is Isabel’s boyfriend. He seems to have the knack of being an effortless contributor in conversations, even as he hardly says a word.

It later comes out that the man is recently returned to the US, after serving as an aviator in the war. To the mounting bewilderment of Isabel’s uncle and mother, the young man has turned down numerous offers for work.

After he accepts a dinner invitation from his sister, he finds himself seated next to a plain looking girl in her late teens that is surprisingly intelligent and shrewd. Maugham manages to make Sophie Macdonald open up despite her shyness.

She introduces Maugham to the heir of a millionaire investment banker named Gray Maturi. Just like Larry he is an assuming man even if he is just as strong and virile

But everyone knows that he is enamored with Isabel even though he does not stand a chance and has not made any advances since Larry is also in the picture.

“The Painted Veil” by W Somerset Maugham is a short masterpiece that explores betrayal, love and search for real meaning in life. The lead in the story is a middle class Briton named Kitty, whose best bet for a future is to marry well.

However, none of the suitors are up to the mark and when her younger sister gets a man before she does, she decides to hitch her horse to Walter. He loves her dearly but she thinks the biologist who makes his home in Hong Kong could not be more boring.

One notable hero is the head of a nunnery who leads her group to care for the poor and sick in her community. The Mother Superior had spent her childhood and youth living with a rich family in France, but has now found her purpose in serving the community.

Meanwhile, Walter the shy biologist risks limb and life trying to tem a cholera epidemic in the hinterlands of China. Maugham provides musings on religion but still manages to be not too preachy.

It is a joy to watch and read as Kitty comes of age and learns from her experiences and the many people she meets.