Reading the stories of Somerset Maugham is rather like curling up and listening to the delicious, risqué tales of an old, dear and very wicked friend. You turn the pages and enter a magical world of fabulous characters and are transported to the very place, the villa, the street, the bar, of which he writes.
Maugham liked to write about human characters and every so often you encounter a character in his writing that you can strongly identify with. While I don't totally identify with Albert Foreman's illiteracy in the story The Verger, having had to leave school at fourteen made me feel like I'd been left holding the proverbial wooden spoon for the rest of my life.
What would I have done had I had a better education than a mere notch above illiteracy? Would I have stayed in Germany, satisfied with my lot in life, and worked diligently towards retirement and a gold watch?
In Maugham's story, Albert Foreman is quite certain when asked what he would be now had he been able to read and write. "I can tell you that, sir", he replied. "I'd be verger of St Peter's, Neville Square."
