Creatures of Circumstance
First US edition
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| Author | William Somerset Maugham |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher |
William Heinemann (UK) Doubleday Doran (US) |
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Publication date
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1947 |
| Media type | |
| OCLC | 2494057 |
Creatures of Circumstance is a collection of 15 short stories by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham, first published by William Heinemann in 1947. It was the last collection of stories prepared by the writer.
In his introduction, Maugham writes, "Some of theses stories were written long ago, but I have left them as they were, for I did not think I could make them more readable by bringing them up to date... one story was written during the war and others since its close. They have all been published in magazines."
Evie is the wife of George Peregrine, a country gentleman and retired colonel; she publishes a book of poetry, which unexpectedly becomes successful. Readers of the book, including the colonel, realize that the poems describe a passionate affair that ended long ago. This embarrasses the colonel; however his solicitor advises him to do nothing. (This was one of the stories by Maugham dramatized in the film Quartet.)
Norman Grange, an impoverished rubber planter in a remote setting in Borneo, reluctantly looks after anthropologist Skelton who is recovering from malaria. Grange's wife is a former actress from Britain whose theatre company went bankrupt in Malaya. She hates her husband and the location, but it is impossible to leave. While Skelton is there she tells him her background and about her unhappiness, but not about her love affair with a visiting rubber company manager, whom Grange murdered.
In Paris, Monsieur Le Sueur, a Senator and businessman, attends a fashion show with his wife, and sees Lissette Larion, a model; he establishes her as his mistress, providing her with an apartment. Later when Le Sueur has become a Minister, he discovers Lissette has a boyfriend. He agrees to her marrying the boyfriend, since it is appropriate for a Minister's mistress to be a respectable married woman.
In Macarena, Seville, a woman known as La Cachirra, having served a prison sentence for murder, comes to the neighbourhood; her fierce, unsociable temperament intrigues the neighbours. She loves her son Currito, who regularly visits, and is jealous of his interest in Rosalia, a local girl. When Rosalia tells her she and Currito intend to get married, La Cachirra stabs her.
Ashenden, staying for a while at a sanatorium in the north of Scotland, which treats patients with tuberculosis, encounters other patients: Campbell and McLeod, who have been there for years, enjoy hating each other; when McLeod dies, Campbell becomes depressed. As a consequence of McLeod's death, Major Templeton decides to make the most of his remaining months of life by marrying Ivy Bishop, who has a little longer to live. (This was one of the stories by Maugham dramatized in the film Trio.)
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