The Trembling of a Leaf: Stories of the South Sea Islands

“The tragedy of love is not death or separation. How long do you think it would have been before one or other of them ceased to care? Oh, it is dreadfully bitter to look at a woman whom you have loved with all your heart and soul, so that you felt you could not bear to let her out of your sight, and realise that you would not mind if you never saw her again. The tragedy of love is indifference.” - W. Somerset Maugham, The Trembling of a Leaf

Spy for the British Empire, W. Somerset Maugham traveled many times to South Pacific and the Far East. There, he started creating series of short stories about the life of the colonialists and how the remoteness and strangeness of such far-away lands can ultimately destroy the very soul of the civilized man.