The Moon and Sixpence is a novel by critically celebrated British writer W. Somerset Maugham. The novel follows the life of Charles Strickland, a businessman who devotes the remainder of his life to painting in an effort to become a great artist. The novel is written from the first-person perspective of an unnamed young writer who spends time with Strickland in London and Paris and then travels to Tahiti to learn about the final years of Strickland's life. The fictional character of Strickland is widely considered to have been inspired by the biography of Impressionist painter Paul Gaugin.
The novel begins with Strickland abruptly leaving his wife and children to pursue painting...
