When World War I broke out he was too old to enlist, but volunteered as a member of the British Red Cross in France, serving as one of the 'Literary Ambulance Drivers.' In 1915 Of Human Bondage was published, and although not initially received well, eventually took of thanks to a glowing review by writer and critic Theodore Dreiser.Īfter promoting Of Human Bondage, Maugham returned to the War effort, working for the British Secret Intellegence Service. In the early 1900s Maugham also became successful as a playwright as well. Maugham promptly quit his work as a medic and engaged in a long and successful career of writing. Maugham's first novel Liza Of Lambeth, was published in 1897 when he was just 23 years old, about the consequences of adultery in the working-class, was instantly successful, the first print run selling out in a matter of weeks. They settled on medicine, and Maugham continued to write at night while studying at the medical school of St. He had been writing since the age of 15, but did not tell his uncle, who was trying to find the young Maugham a suitable career.
He then went to Germany to study, where he had a relationship with John Ellingham Brooks, and wrote his first book, a biography of Giocomo Meyerbeer, an opera composer. During this time he developed a stammer that stayed with him throughout his life. He attended King's School in Canterbury, and struggled, especially since English was his second language. After the death of his parents, Maugham was sent to the UK to live with his uncle, who proved to be cold and cruel. Maugham's youngest brother died on Maugham's eighth birthday. Both of Maugham's parents died before he was 10 years old - his mother from tuberculosis just after Maugham's eighth birthday, and his father two years later from cancer. His father, Robert Ormond Maugham, handled the legal affairs of the British Embassy in Paris and arranged the birth of his son at the embassy to avoid the law that any child born on French soil could be conscripted for military service. He was born at the British Embassy in Paris on January 25, 1874. William Somerset Maugham was an English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer.
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