William Somerset Maugham "The Moon and the Sixpence"

At the beginning we see Charles Strickland as a happily married 40 years old stockbroker. He is just an ordinary man of that time: "He was broad and heavy, with large hands and feet, and he wore his evening clothes clumsily. He gave you somewhat the idea of a coachman dressed up for the occasion. He was a man of forty, not good-looking, and yet not ugly, for his features were rather good; but they were all a little larger than life-size, and the effect was ungainly. He was clean shaven, and his large face looked uncomfortably naked. His hair was reddish, cut very short, and his eyes were small, blue or grey. He looked commonplace."

Miss Waterford says about Mr. and Mrs. Strickland: "They adore one another. He's very quiet. He's not in the least interested in literature or the arts." And Mrs. Strickland says: "He's not at all literary. …