Daisy

by W. Somerset Maugham

It was Sunday morning-a damp, warm November morning, with the sky overhead grey and low. Miss Reed stopped a little to take breath before climbing the hill, at the top of which, in the middle of the churchyard, was Blackstable Church. Miss Reed panted, and the sultriness made her loosen her jacket. She stood at the junction of the two roads which led to the church, one from the harbour end of the town and the other from the station. Behind her lay the houses of Blackstable, the wind-beaten houses with slate roofs of the old fishing village and the red brick villas of the seaside resort which Blackstable was fast becoming; in the harbour were the masts of the ships, colliers that brought coal from the north; and beyond, the grey sea, very motionless, mingling in the distance with the sky....

Genres: Short Stories

50 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2013

About the author

William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.

His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.

Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.

During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.

At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.

Reviews

[Diana Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maugham really has the human condition down pat in this short story. A young girl makes a mistake for which she is not forgiven by her parents...it's a poignant story, and an excellent read.

[Bhuwan Chand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somerset Maugham at his best in terms of capturing the limitations/ short-comings of ordinary human beings. This is what I love about my favourite writer.

How easily we judge others, how easily we let our negative emotions take control of our actions. How easy it is to turn our face from those who are in need, even if they are our own. How easily we expect everyone to help us when we need.

We are truly one of the kind creation of nature - mostly mean and selfish...

[Vaishali · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Maugham’s earlier works, devoid of any exotic tropical locales or upper crust Brits enjoying a mod early 20th century life. Fantastic triumph of a singularly strong woman, however, set against the backdrop of a horrible family she never deserved. Maugham paints an essay on harsh, almost Puritanical judgementalism in insular communities vs. secular urban life. Three stars for its almost too tidy ending (and Daisy’s overt generosity?) though we are all relieved for her beautiful future.

[Kumari de Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really a short story and not a book, I read it in a little over an hour. This story reminded me of an Elizabeth Gaskell story although in her story it is the mother who remains concerned about her daughter and the father who is harshly judgmental. The story is a little predictable. (How can it not be!) But I gave it high marks anyway because the language is lovely and the irony hilarious.

[Keerthi Vasishta]

Times have changed but can't help but feel for poor Daisy.

[Andrew Troske · Rating 3 out of 5]

True love is not conditional and true value does not always come in neat packages.