The Explorer

"The Explorer" by W. Somerset Maugham is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story revolves around Lucy Allerton, a woman burdened by her family's financial decline, particularly due to her father's reckless spending and gambling. As Lucy grapples with the memories of her once-prosperous family estate, Hamlyn's Purlieu, she is determined to reclaim her family's dignity and secure a future for her younger brother, George. At the start of the novel, we find Lucy standing on a desolate beach, reflecting on her turbulent past and the impending loss of her family's legacy. Maugham introduces the reader to her elaborate thoughts about the sea and her deep connections to the Solent, emphasizing the emotional turmoil that accompanies her memories. As the narrative unfolds, the reader learns of Lucy's struggles to maintain her family's home against her father's financial negligence and the pressures of societal expectations. The opening sets the stage for a poignant exploration of themes of identity, loss, and resilience as Lucy strives to navigate the complexities of her family's decline and her own aspirations for the future. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

William Somerset Maugham was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German university. He became a medical student in London and qualified as a physician in 1897. He never practised medicine, and became a full-time writer. His first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), a study of life in the slums, attracted attention, but it was as a playwright that he first achieved national celebrity. By 1908 he had four plays running at once in the West End of London. He wrote his 32nd and last play in 1933, after which he abandoned the theatre and concentrated on novels and short stories.