Mrs. Craddock

"The most difficult thing for a wise woman to do is to pretend to be a foolish one."

-Miss Ley, Mrs. Craddock (1902) by Somerset Maugham

Mrs. Craddock (1902) by Somerset Maugham is the story of Bertha Ley, who marries handsome, older Edward Craddock; however she soon realizes he's a bore, and thus begins the demise of their relationship. Her marital and life troubles mount, and Mrs. Craddock turns her attention to a much younger man. Deemed too risqu for the time, Maugham had difficulty finding a publisher until he agreed to remove the passages which readers would find offensive. A timeless novel of a woman's plight in a loveless marriage, this is a great edition to any reader's personal library.