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

by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham

"The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands" by W. Somerset Maugham is a collection of short stories published in 1921. Born from Maugham's 1916-1917 Pacific travels, these tales explore the collision between Western civilization and island paradise. European and American expatriates encounter love, hatred, and moral crossroads among the South Sea Islands, where extreme happiness trembles on the edge of extreme despair. Each story reveals how the intoxicating beauty of the Pacific can seduce, transform, or destroy those who venture there.