William Somerset Maugham

The Magician is a novel by British author W. Somerset Maugham, originally published in 1908. In this tale, the magician Oliver Haddo, a caricature of Aleister Crowley, attempts to create life. Crowley wrote a critique of this book under the pen name Oliver Haddo, in which he accused Maugham of plagiarism. Maugham …

Cakes and Ale is a delicious satire of London literary society between the Wars. Social climber Alroy Kear is flattered when he is selected by Edward Driffield's wife to pen the official biography of her lionized novelist husband, and determined to write a bestseller. But then Kear discovers the great novelist's …

Catalina is a novel written by W. Somerset Maugham and first published by Heinemann in 1948. Set in Spain during the Inquisition the novel is a satire on the power of the church. It was Maugham’s last published novel.

These 30 short stories, comprising Somerset Maugham's first collection, are set in locations ranging from England, France and Spain to the silver sands of the South Pacific. They include "Rain," "The Three Fat Women of Antibes," "The Voice of the Turtle," and "Before the Party."For more than seventy years, Penguin has …