Of Human Bondage

Name: Of Human Bondage
Author: W. Somerset Maugham

by W. Somerset Maugham

Pages: about 943
Category: Literature & Fiction
Language: English
Reading time: 17 h at 250 wpm

Start readingThe whole book, as cards or one word at a time. 9.6 h at 450 wpm in Read mode.

From the opening

The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child’s bed.
She pulled down the bed-clothes, took him in her arms, and carried him downstairs. He was only half awake.
She opened the door of a room on the floor below and took the child over to a bed in which a woman was lying. It was his mother. She stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side. He did not ask why he had been awakened. The woman kissed his eyes, and with thin, small hands felt the warm body through his white flannel nightgown. She pressed him closer to herself.
Her voice was so weak that it seemed to come already from a great distance. The child did not answer, but smiled comfortably. He was very happy in the large, warm bed, with those soft arms about him. He tried to make himself smaller still as he cuddled up against his mother, and he kissed her sleepily. In a moment he closed his eyes and was fast asleep. The doctor came forwards and stood by the bed-side.
The doctor, without answering, looked at her gravely. Knowing she would not be allowed to keep the child much longer, the woman kissed him again; and she passed her hand down his body till she came to his feet; she held the right foot in her hand and felt the five small toes; and then slowly passed her hand over the left one. She gave a sob.
She shook her head, unable to speak, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. The doctor bent down.

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Of Human Bondage

From the opening

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