Audiobooks by W. Somerset Maugham

The Somerset Maugham BBC Radio Collection: Eight full-cast dramatisations and readings

BBC Radio 4 dramatisations and readings of Somerset Maugham's fiction - plus bonus programme Replay: Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham was one of the most successful English writers of the 20th Century, and remains the most adapted for film and TV. This collection includes eight of his novels, plays and short stories, as heard on BBC radio, as well as an illuminating interview with the author himself. The Moon and Sixpence - Respectable stockbroker Charles Strickland abandons his wife and children to live as a painter in Paris and Tahiti. Starring Ronald Pickup and Patrick Allen. The Painted Veil - First published in 1925 to a storm of protest, this is a haunting, poignant tale of one woman's spiritual awakening. Starring Sarah Smart and Nicholas Farrell. The Sacred Flame- Invalided following an air crash, Maurice is determined to remain cheerful. But his condition affects all those who are close to him. Starring Julian Glover, Wendy Hiller, Hannah Gordon and Janet Maw. Ashenden, Gentleman Spy - Ashenden, a writer by profession, returns from the First World War and is offered a position in the Secret Service. Five short stories based on Maugham's own wartime experiences, read byAlex Jennings. For Services Rendered- In this incisive state-of-the nation play, it is 1932, and the progressive Ardsley family seem to be managing their lives very well. But in reality, each of them is fighting for survival. Starring David Calder, Sian Thomas and Louise Brealey. The Narrow Corner - Sailing home from the East Indies, a doctor and his two companions are forced to seek shelter on the island of Kanda - where they encounter the beautiful, sultry Louise... Starring Garard Green, Owen Scott, Douglas Blackwell and Cara Kelly. Christmas Holiday - 1938, and Charley is looking forward to spending Christmas in Paris with his old school friend, Simon. But they are both ignorant of the storm clouds lowering over Europe... Starring Peter Rumney and Anthony Daniels. The Razor's Edge - After the First World War, Larry Darrell returns to Chicago but finds it difficult to fit back into society. To the dismay of his fiancée, Isabel, he heads for Paris and embarks on a spiritual quest. StarringNicholas Le Prevost, John Light and Megan Dodds. Replay: Somerset Maugham - Philip French presents an archive interview with Somerset Maugham, recorded in 1954 on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Alex Jennings, Dirk Bogarde, Janet Maw (Narrator)

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N B C University Theater - Of Human Bondage

'NBC University Theater' initially started in Chicago with a remit to bring adaptations of classic novels, usually Anglo-American, to a radio audience.Additionally, if listeners signed up they received college credit to a radio-assisted correspondence course. A study guide, The Handbook of the World's Great Novels, was available for 25 cents.In its later years it also included short stories and plays and went on to win the distinguished Peabody award.Unlike many other radio shows University Theatre did not pursue the glamourous stars for its productions but instead relied on excellent distillations of the novels and first class acting alongside high production values.But now its time to enjoy these timeless novels. Let's begin.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Angela Lansbury, Brian Aherne (Narrator)

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The Razor's Edge

The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find-from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine-becomes Larry''s spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s. This novel is part of Brilliance Audio''s extensive Classic Collection, bringing you timeless masterpieces that you and your family are sure to love.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

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The Moon and Sixpence

One of W. Somerset Maugham’s best-known and well-loved novels. The Moon and Sixpence is a fictionalized biography of the artist Paul Gauguin. Charles Strickland, a thinly veiled Gauguin, deserts his wife and children to become a painter. In Paris, he is indifferent to the friendship offered by a fellow artist, Dirk Stroeve, but it is Stroeve and his wife Blanche who take Strickland in when he falls ill. It is only a matter of time before Strickland again devastates those around him by running away with Blanche. Will he reform his ways for the chance at a suitable life with Blanche, or will be abandon her as well?This novel is part of Brilliance Audio's extensive Classic Collection, bringing you timeless masterpieces that you and your family are sure to love.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

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Cakes and Ale

Of all Somerset Maugham's novels this is the most entertaining and arguably his best ever. Rosie is a barmaid with a heart of gold and a skeleton in her closet. Maugham's portrait of her makes his novel fairly glow with witty observations of the contemporary literary scene. Features Willie Ashenden, who resurfaces in Maugham's Ashenden.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Neil Hunt (Narrator)

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The Magician

From one of literature's finest storytellers comes an enchanting tale of secrets, the supernatural-and fatal attraction. Renowned English surgeon Arthur Burdon is engaged to the beautiful Margaret Dauncey, who is studying art in Paris. The match is met with approval from all sides, and everyone is happy-until the mysterious Oliver Haddo enters the picture. Both Arthur and his fiancée dislike the enormously fat and eccentric Oliver but are fascinated by his stories of black magic, by his demonstrations of a power that seems inhuman. And while they scoff at his boasts, their dislike turns to loathing. A month later, Margaret disappears. The note she leaves behind begins: "When you receive this, I shall be on my way to London. I was married to Oliver Haddo this morning." Why? How? What mysterious power had the Magician used? What further revenge might he be plotting? The answers are revealed in this hair-raising fantasy. "Maugham tells his tale of the weird and the horrible with simple sincerity and a constant matching of the unhallowed practices with the clean, sweet things of common life that make its effect uncommonly impressive."-New York Times

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), James Adams (Narrator)

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Liza of Lambeth

An extraordinarily popular author during his lifetime, W. Somerset Maugham created a literary legacy that includes such classics as The Moon and Sixpence and The Razor' s Edge. Maugham' s first novel, Liza of Lambeth is the story of 18-year-old Liza Kemp, a London factory worker near the beginning of the 20th century who falls deeply in love with a 40-year-old father of nine children. As the affair escalates, Liza pays little mind to the damage her reputation is suffering. But society becomes increasingly troubled by the relationship.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Davina Porter (Narrator)

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Of Human Bondage [With eBook]

Considered by many to be W. Somerset Maugham's masterpiece, Of Human Bondage traces the travels of Philip Carey to Germany, Paris, and London while exploring his intellectual, emotional, and psychological development and, later, his destructive relationship with a tawdry waitress. ** Please contact Member Services for Additional documents.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Steven Crossley (Narrator)

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The Constant Wife

There’s something Constance Middleton’s friends are dying to tell her: her husband is having an affair – with her best friend! Despite their hints, Constance remains ever cool, and seemingly oblivious. Or is she? In this biting comedy of manners, marriages and mistresses, Constance – a not-so-desperate housewife - has some ideas of her own about extra-marital activity that surprise everyone in the end! An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Kate Burton as Constance Middleton Rosalind Ayres as Barbara Fawcett Mark Capri as Bentley and Mortimer Durham Stephen Collins as Bernard Kersal John De Lancie as John Middleton, F.R.C.S. Jen Dede as Marie-Louise Durham Christina Pickles as Mrs. Culver Kirsten Potter as Martha Culver Directed by Jeanie Hackett. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Various Performers (Narrator)

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The Moon and Sixpence

Based on the life of Postimpressionist 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 Maugham 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. Strickland's destructive desire for self-expression takes him first to Paris to learn the craft of painting, and finally to Tahiti in the South Pacific. The Moon and Sixpence remains a complex and engaging novel echoing Maugham's own struggles between artistic expression and public respectability, and between his public persona and private life.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Steven Crossley (Narrator)

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Catalina

Set in the time of the infamous Spanish Inquisition, Catalina is a novel both richly historical and affectingly human. Two eminent persons, natives of the city, were arriving after an absence of many years, and great doings had been arranged in their honor. In the Lady Chapel of the church a crippled girl prayed to the Blessed Virgin whose day it was, too. No greater things were planned for the girl, Catalina, but greater things awaited her.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Davina Porter (Narrator)

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The Moon and Sixpence

The Moon and Sixpence, one of Maugham's best-known and loved novels, is a fictionalized biography of the artist Paul Gauguin. The stand-in character for Gauguin is Charles Strickland who deserts his wife and children to become a painter. In Paris, he is indifferent to the friendship offered by a fellow artist, Dirk Stroeve; but it is Stroeve and his wife Blanche who take Strickland in when he falls ill. Strickland again devastates those around him by running away with Blanche, who has fallen in love with him. In reality, he has no use for Blanche except as the model for a painting and upon the painting's completion, abandons her as well. The Moon and Sixpence is one of Maugham's most enduring character studies, it has been read and enjoyed for generations.

W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

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