W. Somerset Maugham, “Cakes and Ale”

The wickedest, most amusing, and perhaps the finest of Maugham’s novels

Cakes and Ale (1930) is W. Somerset Maugham’s masterpiece of social satire and literary detection. It explores the hidden life of Edward Driffield, the celebrated “Grand Old Man” of Victorian letters, as a smooth-talking careerist attempts to construct a respectable official biography. But the narrator, Willie Ashenden, holds the key to the truth: Driffield’s scandalous first marriage to Rosie, a barmaid of easy virtue but infinite kindness.

Moving between the stiff literary salons of London and the rural Kent of Driffield’s youth, Maugham exposes the hypocrisy of the cultural elite with devastating wit. At its center stands Rosie Driffield, one of the most vibrant female characters in fiction—a woman whose “cakes and ale” spirit defies the rigid morality of her time. A brilliant roman à clef, this novel remains a sharp, cynical, yet deeply moving reflection on the nature of fame and the construction of memory.

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and short story writer. Born in Paris and trained as a doctor, he became one of the most commercially successful and gifted writers of the twentieth century. His major works include Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), The Painted Veil (1925), and The Razor’s Edge (1944). A master of the narrative form, Maugham is celebrated for his detached yet compassionate observation of the human condition.

Il Disoriente

A paperback and e-book series published by Intra.

Global readability, Italian charm.

• Date of publication: Jan. 12 2026
• Language: English
• Paperback: 229 pages
• ISBN-13: 979-1259918192
  
• Dimensions: 6×9 inches
• Price: (US) $ 14.95 (CAN) $can 20.95 (paperback)

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