Mrs. Craddock

by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham

"Mrs. Craddock" by W. Somerset Maugham is a novel published in 1902. Set in the late 19th century, it tells the story of Bertha Ley, an educated and cultured young woman of independent means who marries her steward, Edward Craddock—a handsome but unimaginative farmer. What begins as romantic idealism gradually transforms into disillusionment as Bertha discovers the painful gap between her intellectual world and her husband's provincial existence, leading her to confront the irreversible consequences of marrying beneath her station.