Books by Robin Maugham

In this dark, haunting tale, Richard Merton recounts the story of his close friend, Tony, a young lawyer recently returned from the war, and the subtle, sinister destruction of his personality by his servant, Barrett. Seeking ease and comfort, Tony hires Barrett to cater to his needs, not realizing that his new servant has a hidden agenda. As Barrett gradually and insidiously leads his employer into physical and moral degradation, the roles of master and servant will become grotesquely reversed.Robin Maugham's modern classic The Servant (1948) was hailed by The New York Times as 'a masterpiece of writing' and was adapted for a celebrated 1963 film version directed by Joseph Losey and scripted by Harold Pinter. This new edition includes a preface by Maugham from the 1973 edition explaining the origins of the novel and a new introduction by William Lawrence.'A highly skilled portrait . . . succeeds as a horror story of considerable brightness and sharpness.' - Kirkus Reviews'It's shocking, brilliantly written, completely absorbing.' - Chicago Daily News'The story has a quiet and absolutely terrifying inevitability . . . reminiscent of Henry James himself.' - News Chronicle'An exquisite work of art . . . a masterpiece of observation and craftsmanship.' - Sheffield Telegram'One of those little story gems you seldom come across these days ... a plausible picture of human collapse told with insight and considerable skill.' - New York World Telegram

Set in London just after the Second World War, Robin Maugham's slim, haunting novella is a confessional tale told in a simple, urgent voice by one Richard Merton. He tells the story of Tony, a close friend from the war, who - breaking links with old friends and habits - steadily comes under the influence of his sinister new butler, Barrett. Concerned for his friend, Richard slowly uncovers a strange affair in which both class and sexual barriers have disintegrated into a dark flux. | 3 women, 3 men

This title was borrowed from a line by Noel Coward and it aptly describes a thoroughly engaging personal book which is a mixture of memoir cum genealogy cum record- straightener. The author's father was Lord Chancellor of England and his uncle was the High Priest of successful storytellers and they cordially detested each other to the grave. Two things the Maugham brothers seem to have agreed on in their dotage - that family history was a waste of money and time and that (this on the verge of 90) they had both been inflicted with frail constitutions. Robin Maugham, a successful novelist and scenarist, had nearly completed his research on the family just before Somerset Maugham's death. He turned up some entertaining and intriguing material on their English forebears, and an American branch. These are casual inserts among the most compelling passages of his book, which deal with the immediate background of Somerset Maugham and with aspects of Maugham's life and books. A portrait of the artist as an old man emerges which is neither sentimental nor indulgent. The last difficult years saw the master storyteller wrenched by turns of depression and a waspishness in conversation that often became vicious. He wept and bewailed his mother's death, his own homosexuality and attitude toward it right into his last days. In discussing this open secret, Robin Maugham is quite frank and unsensational although it is this view of his Uncle Willie's relationship to his younger secretary/companions that will stimulate more than the usual amount of comment reserved for partial autobiography. (Kirkus Reviews)