comparatively prominent solicitor, responsible
for the foundation of the Incorporated Society of Solicitors in England.
Somerset Maugham, after studying medicine at Heidelberg, went to St.
Thomas's, in the section of London known as Lambeth. He obtained his
medical degree there. St. Thomas's just across the river from Westminster
proved his medical ruin, and his literary birth. The hospital is situated
on the border of the slum areas of South London where much that is
hopeless, terrible, and wildly cheerful can be found. Persons are not
wanting who hold that the slums of Battersea and Lambeth contain more
misery and poverty than Limehouse, Whitechapel and the dark forest
surrounding the Commercial Road combined. To St. Thomas's daily comes a
procession of battered derelicts, seeking attention from the young men in
white tunics who hope to be doctors on their own account some day. To St.
Thomas's came Eliza of Lambeth, came Liza's mother, came Jim and Tom. Here
is the genesis of Maugham's first serious work, _Liza of Lambeth_.

It will be simpler and less confusing to deal with Somerset Maugham in the
first instance as a maker of books rather than as a playwright. One cannot
help believing that, while not one of his plays can be regarded as a pot
boiler, they yet but seldom display that fervent purpose found in his
books. Yet in his plays, one finds a greater attention to conventional
technique and "form" than one finds in books like _Of Human Bondage_ and
_The Moon and Sixpence_.

The first book launched by Somerset Maugham, _Liza of Lambeth_, could
hardly have been, considering its slight dimensions, a clearer indication
of the line he was to follow. It came out at a time when Gissing was still
in favour, and the odour of mean streets was accepted as synonymous with
literary honesty and courage. There is certainly no lack of either about
this idyll of Elizabeth Kemp of the lissome limbs and auburn hair. The
story pursues its way, and one sees the soul of a woman shining clearly
through the racy dialect and frolics of the Chingford beano, the rueful
futility of faithful Thomas and the engaging callousness of Liza's
mother.

Somerset Maugham's next study in female portraiture showed how far he
could travel towards perfection. _Mrs. Craddock_, which is often called
his best book, is a sex satire punctuated by four curtains, two of comedy
and two of tragedy. This mixture of opposites should have been enough to
damn it in