Mrs Craddock

By W. Somerset Maugham and Robert Calder

“There is something bracing about the sincerity of [Maugham's] style . . . a style that serves his general purpose of stripping life to the bone with a thin, sharp knife that lays open to view the normal flesh and the healthy flow of blood as well as the cancerous sore beneath.” —Leslie A. Marchand, The New York Times

Edward Craddock is a thoroughly good man. He may lack his wife Bertha’s education, but he is unfailingly good-humored, handsome, placid, and popular. It is hardly surprising that Bertha adores him. But expending all one’s passion, all one’s spirit, on a man who is so undemonstrative, so unimaginative, can be very trying, as Bertha soon discovers.
 
In this penetrating study of an unequal marriage, W. Somerset Maugham explores the nature of love and happiness and finds that the two rarely coincide.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Feb 5, 2008
• ISBN: 9781101664193

W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel. Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent.

Reviews for Mrs Craddock

[jeffome · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ok....this is a really, really early version of 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'.......this is a fairly interesting story of a marriage made for the wrong reasons that definitely had a chance of being wonderful, but for the undeniably strong differences between men and women and the way they view life, love, and relationships. Neither party is anywhere near perfect, but their complete lack of understanding of their different perspectives leads to a sad, weighty tolerance of a basically unhappy marriage. And all the ingredients were there for success had there been any effort on either side to attempt to learn about, understand, and at least try to respect each other's point of view. This is my 1st Maugham novel, and my edition has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek introduction by an established Mr. Maugham reflecting on his editing and preparing this reprint of a very early work, and that alone hooked me on wanting to read the book. A little sappy, a little tedious now and then, but very enjoyable overall. Which is good....as there are many more works of Maugham on the shelf to go.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A proto-feminist lead character? Maybe. Similarities in the search for freedom that are themes in other Maugham books, "The Razor's Edge" a notable example.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maugham wrote a great deal about unequal love affairs, and this is a particularly infuriating one. Mrs. Craddock tells the story of an intelligent, educated, tasteful young woman who falls in love with a very provincial, limited young farmer. She stubbornly resists her guardians’ well meaning attempts to break the attachment, and marries him as quickly as she can. Edward Craddock is a good man by his peers’ standards, but his narrow, self-satisfied mind precludes any understanding between the lovebirds. This is a brutal book, but there are many beautiful flashes of prose and psychological insight. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book. Overall, it’s a much better version of Ethan Frome.

[benjamin.duffy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Between any two lovers there is always one who loves, and one who lets themself be loved. It is the one who loves, that always gets hurt."

This quote from Mrs. Craddock (I've rendered it as best I can from the original French) sums the book up well. The theme of unrequited love, or less-requited love at least, is also central to Maugham's superb Of Human Bondage (in fact, I believe a character in that book says it as well, only in English).

While Mrs. Craddock is definitely not up to the snuff of Of Human Bondage, it's a powerful story in its own right. For one of Maugham's earliest published works, it already shows his impressive capacity to drag the reader with him through joy and despair. It also shows his knack for presenting characters as three-dimensional people with realistic motivations and needs; he does an amazing job in this novel of presenting characters in bitter conflict with each other, yet he refuses to take the side of either one, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.

Some of the writing is a little precious and melodramatic compared to his stark, raw later work; this is clearly a novel with one foot still in the 19th century. But it was still a very worthwhile read, for its emotional impact and as an interesting glimpse into Maugham's development as a writer.

[madhatter22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mrs Craddock is an emotional, witty and thought-provoking story about a young woman who marries beneath her in a fit of passion and ends up with a husband and a life that are not what she thought they would be. Somerset Maugham writes women so well that it's often hard to believe that the female characters' observations and inner musings were written by a man. I came across lines that seemed like they could've been written by Jane Austen or Dorothy Parker, and it also put me in mind of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. I fell in love with the title character. A wonderful book - highly recommended. ***************A side note I found interesting: The forward in my edition talked about how hard it was to find a publisher for this book because of its "controversial" content. Maugham actually had to leave out quite a few scenes to get it published. (All of which have been restored in current editions.)After reading the book all I can conclude is that it must have been controversial simply to have an unhappily married female character who was dissatisfied with her husband even though he was a decent man. There wasn't too much more than that to object to. Maybe that shouldn't surprise me for a book published in 1902, but it really did! Especially since Maugham had already had critical and commercial success as an author by that time.