Moon and Sixpence (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

Based on the life of French post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence builds on a long tradition of European writing about the South Pacific as an exotic locale. It also marks the transformation of British writer W. Somerset Maughm from celebrated playwright to accomplished novelist.

In The Moon and Sixpence, Charles Strickland, is a respectable London stockbroker who decides in middle age to abandon his wife and children and devote himself to his true passion: art. St...