Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (1979), Paperback, 256 pages
Description
Bertha Ley comes of age, inherits her father's money and promptly marries a handsome, calm and unimaginative man. Bertha is wildly in love with Edward and believes she can be happy playing the role of a dutiful wife in their country home. But, intelligent and sensual, she quickly becomes bored by her oppressively conventional life, and finds her love for her husband slipping away. Originally rejected by publishers, Mrs Craddock was first published only on condition that certain 'shocking' passages were removed. It was thirty years before the full text could be published.
User reviews
LibraryThing member madhatter22
Mrs Craddock is an emotional, witty and thought-provoking story about a young woman who marries beneath her in a fit of passion and ends up with a husband and a life that are not what she thought they would be. Somerset Maugham writes women so well that it's often hard to believe that the female
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A side note I found interesting: The forward in my edition talked about how hard it was to find a publisher for this book because of its "controversial" content. Maugham actually had to leave out quite a few scenes to get it published. (All of which have been restored in current editions.)
After reading the book all I can conclude is that it must have been controversial simply to have an unhappily married female character who was dissatisfied with her husband even though he was a decent man. There wasn't too much more than that to object to. Maybe that shouldn't surprise me for a book published in 1902, but it really did! Especially since Maugham had already had critical and commercial success as an author by that time.
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characters' observations and inner musings were written by a man. I came across lines that seemed like they could've been written by Jane Austen or Dorothy Parker, and it also put me in mind of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. I fell in love with the title character. A wonderful book - highly recommended. ***************
A side note I found interesting: The forward in my edition talked about how hard it was to find a publisher for this book because of its "controversial" content. Maugham actually had to leave out quite a few scenes to get it published. (All of which have been restored in current editions.)
After reading the book all I can conclude is that it must have been controversial simply to have an unhappily married female character who was dissatisfied with her husband even though he was a decent man. There wasn't too much more than that to object to. Maybe that shouldn't surprise me for a book published in 1902, but it really did! Especially since Maugham had already had critical and commercial success as an author by that time.
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LibraryThing member benjamin.duffy
"Between any two lovers there is always one who loves, and one who lets themself be loved. It is the one who loves, that always gets hurt."
This quote from Mrs. Craddock (I've rendered it as best I can from the original French) sums the book up well. The theme of unrequited love, or less-requited
While Mrs. Craddock is definitely not up to the snuff of Of Human Bondage, it's a powerful story in its own right. For one of Maugham's earliest published works, it already shows his impressive capacity to drag the reader with him through joy and despair. It also shows his knack for presenting characters as three-dimensional people with realistic motivations and needs; he does an amazing job in this novel of presenting characters in bitter conflict with each other, yet he refuses to take the side of either one, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
Some of the writing is a little precious and melodramatic compared to his stark, raw later work; this is clearly a novel with one foot still in the 19th century. But it was still a very worthwhile read, for its emotional impact and as an interesting glimpse into Maugham's development as a writer.
This quote from Mrs. Craddock (I've rendered it as best I can from the original French) sums the book up well. The theme of unrequited love, or less-requited
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love at least, is also central to Maugham's superb Of Human Bondage (in fact, I believe a character in that book says it as well, only in English).While Mrs. Craddock is definitely not up to the snuff of Of Human Bondage, it's a powerful story in its own right. For one of Maugham's earliest published works, it already shows his impressive capacity to drag the reader with him through joy and despair. It also shows his knack for presenting characters as three-dimensional people with realistic motivations and needs; he does an amazing job in this novel of presenting characters in bitter conflict with each other, yet he refuses to take the side of either one, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
Some of the writing is a little precious and melodramatic compared to his stark, raw later work; this is clearly a novel with one foot still in the 19th century. But it was still a very worthwhile read, for its emotional impact and as an interesting glimpse into Maugham's development as a writer.
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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Maugham wrote a great deal about unequal love affairs, and this is a particularly infuriating one. Mrs. Craddock tells the story of an intelligent, educated, tasteful young woman who falls in love with a very provincial, limited young farmer. She stubbornly resists her guardians’ well meaning
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attempts to break the attachment, and marries him as quickly as she can. Edward Craddock is a good man by his peers’ standards, but his narrow, self-satisfied mind precludes any understanding between the lovebirds. This is a brutal book, but there are many beautiful flashes of prose and psychological insight. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book. Overall, it’s a much better version of Ethan Frome. Show Less
LibraryThing member jeffome
Ok....this is a really, really early version of 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'.......this is a fairly interesting story of a marriage made for the wrong reasons that definitely had a chance of being wonderful, but for the undeniably strong differences between men and women and the way
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they view life, love, and relationships. Neither party is anywhere near perfect, but their complete lack of understanding of their different perspectives leads to a sad, weighty tolerance of a basically unhappy marriage. And all the ingredients were there for success had there been any effort on either side to attempt to learn about, understand, and at least try to respect each other's point of view. This is my 1st Maugham novel, and my edition has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek introduction by an established Mr. Maugham reflecting on his editing and preparing this reprint of a very early work, and that alone hooked me on wanting to read the book. A little sappy, a little tedious now and then, but very enjoyable overall. Which is good....as there are many more works of Maugham on the shelf to go. Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
A proto-feminist lead character? Maybe. Similarities in the search for freedom that are themes in other Maugham books, "The Razor's Edge" a notable example.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1902 [bowdlerized]
1928 [complete, revised and with a new preface by the author]
1955 [same revisions as above, preface expanded by the author]
Physical description
256 p.; 7.6 inches
ISBN
0140185941 / 9780140185942