Rain and Other South Sea Stories (The Trembling of a Leaf Short Stories Collection) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. 1920s colonial South Sea Islands tales of passion, faith, exileBy William Somerset Maugham
Length9h 26m
About this audiobook
Rain and Other South Sea Stories, drawn from William Somerset Maugham's 1921 collection The Trembling of a Leaf, gathers tales set amid the islands and colonial outposts of the South Pacific. Its most famous story, "Rain," stages a devastating conflict between missionary zeal, sexuality, and human frailty. Written in Maugham's lucid, economical prose, the collection belongs to the tradition of late imperial fiction while often unsettling its assumptions through irony, psychological acuity, and moral ambiguity. Maugham, already celebrated as a novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, brought to these narratives the eye of a seasoned traveler and the detachment of a trained physician. His journeys through the Pacific after the First World War supplied settings, voices, and social tensions, while his cosmopolitan life sharpened his interest in hypocrisy, desire, loneliness, and the masks worn by respectable people under pressure. This collection is recommended to readers who value fiction that combines narrative elegance with searching ethical insight. Maugham's South Sea stories are not merely exotic sketches but disciplined studies of character under tropical heat, cultural displacement, and spiritual strain. They remain compelling for students of modern short fiction, colonial literature, and the darker comedy of human self-deception.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Literary Classics
Length9 hrs 26 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateApr 10, 2015
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
10IV Red
2Introduction
11V The Pool
3Author Biography
12VI Honolulu
4Historical Context
13VII Rain
5Synopsis (Selection)
14VIII Envoi
Show all chaptersShow less
6Rain and Other South Sea Stories (The Trembling of a Leaf Short Stories Collection)
15Analysis
7I The Pacific
16Reflection
8II Mackintosh
17Memorable Quotes
9III The Fall of Edward Barnard
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