W. Somerset Maugham

William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874-December 16, 1965) was a British playwright and fiction writer. He was one of the most popular British writers of his time, and his second book, Liza of Lambeth (1897), was an instant success. After ten years of prose writing, his first play, Lady Frederick (1907), was a runaway hit. Some of his most popular comedies were The Circle (1921) and The Constant Wife (1927). His novel Of Human Bondage (1915), loosely based on his own life, is considered his finest work.