The Magician (1909) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Controversial for its portrayal of infidelity and occult ritual, The Magician was instrumental in establishing Maugham’s reputation as a leading author of the late Victorian era. Inspired by stories of Aleister Crowley, an influential occultist and magician, Maugham crafted a masterpiece of fantasy fiction that would inspire Crowley himself to write a hit piece for Vanity Fair erroneously accusing the novelist of plagiarism. Arthur Burdon has everything he could ever want. A successful career as a surgeon, financial stability, a beautiful young fiancée—everything. On a trip to Paris to visit Margaret, who is studying to be an artist, he meets a man named Oliver Haddo, a magician and acquaintance of Burdon’s teacher Dr. Porhoët. Although Arthur, his fiancée, and their friends are initially impressed with Haddo’s magic tricks, things soon take a strange turn when Margaret elopes with the mysterious magician. Distraught, Arthur retreats from life to dedicate himself to his work at the hospital. When Oliver and Margaret show up at a party in London, however, Arthur becomes convinced that his ex-lover is being held against her will. The Magician is a sinister tale of desire, disappointment, and the occult by a master stylist with a keen sense of the complications inherent to human nature. This edition of W. Somerset Maugham’s The Magician is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
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W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel. Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent.
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