Somerset Maugham 
The Moon and Sixpence [EPUB ebook] 

The Moon and Sixpence, is a fictionalized biography of the artist Paul Gauguin. The stand-in character for Gauguin is Charles Strickland, who deserts his wife and children to become a painter. In Paris, he is indifferent to the friendship offered by a fellow artist, Dirk Stroeve. Strickland devastates those around him by running away with Blanche, Stoeve’s wife, who has fallen in love with him.