Of Human Bondage

Orphaned young and burdened with a club foot that shadows his whole youth, Philip Carey grows up hungry for a life that means something. Maugham follows him from a bleak English childhood through school, an attempt at painting in Paris, and finally the study of medicine in London, all while Philip searches for a philosophy he can actually live by. The great weight of the book is his helpless, degrading love for Mildred, a shallow waitress who repays his devotion with contempt. Drawn closely from Maugham’s own life, the novel is his most ambitious and enduring work. First published in 1915, it remains a landmark of the coming-of-age tradition. This free PDF and EPUB edition brings that long, honest reckoning back into reach.