Individual Reading W. S. Maugham "The Moon and Sixpence" Summary Chapters 1-11

The narrator, a young writer, met Mrs. Strickland on one of numerous receptions. Having become good friends he began to visit her dinner parties and there he made the acquaintance of Mr. Strickland. Strickland was a middle-class stockbroker,  a typical man with no interests, but one day he left his wife and went to Paris without any explanations. Mrs. Strickland was puzzled as she considered her marriage successful. As she couldn't find any reason for such behaviour she decided that her husband had an affair with someone. There were also many vague rumour that he was living in a luxurious apartment and wasting money. His wife wrote him letters begging him to return but he was unbending. That's why Any Strickland asked the narrator to go to Paris and convice her husband to come home. The young writer agreed. However, having come to Paris, he found Strickland in a cheap hotel without any lover. What is more, the reason of his such a sudden decision was a wish to be an artist.