The Moon and Sixpence

The Moon and Sixpence is a masterpiece by W. Somerset Maugham, loosely based on the life of painter Paul Gauguin. It follows Charles Strickland, a London stockbroker who abruptly abandons his family and career in midlife to pursue his passion for painting in Paris and beyond. The novel explores the tension between artistic idealism and bourgeois reality, questioning the true cost of freedom and the meaning of life.