"The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself." ― W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage Of Human Bondage (1915) by W. Somerset Maugham renders the story of Philip Carey who is born with a club foot. He loses his parents at an early age and goes to live with his aunt and uncle, where he picks up a reading habit. Soon he is sent to a boarding school after finishing which he goes to live in Germany. After a few months of studying in Heidelberg, he takes on another adventure aiming to be an artist in Paris. Consequently, he settles in London to train as a doctor where he meets Mildred, a flamboyant waitress with whom he begins a tumultuous affair.