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 full-time. He moves to Paris and leaves a terse note explaining what he has done. Everyone, including the narrator, is horrified by the cold cruelty of his actions. The narrator finds Strickland and tries to convince him to return, but he appears entirely unaffected by societal perception of his behavior. The narrator is repulsed by Strickland's callousness, but secretly admires his determination. The two cross paths again years later when the narrator meets his old friend Dirk Strove, a kind man and mediocre painter. Strove says he knows Strickland and thinks he is exceptionally talented. Strove's wife also reveals that Strickland is frequently rude to Strove and says derisive things about his work. The three spend time together in Paris.
After not hearing from Strickland for a time, Strove and the narrator discover he has become extremely sick. Strove takes Strickland to his home and helps him recover. Strickland is entirely ungrateful and runs off with Strove's wife. Strickland then breaks things off with her and she commits suicide, leaving Strove entirely in despair. Strove returns to his family in Holland and the narrator claims to be entirely finished with Strickland. The narrator later travels to Tahiti and learns that Strickland spent some enjoyable time there, painting and starting a family with a local woman, before contracting leprosy and dying. His final work, regarded as his masterpiece, is painted on the walls of his home and is later destroyed according to his final wishes.
Published in 1919, the novel was a critical and commercial success. It was adapted into a play in 1925 and a film in 1942, written and directed by Albert Lewin and starring George Sanders. It was also the basis of a 1957 opera of the same name and an American 1959 television series, in which Laurence Olivier played Strickland.
