By Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife is a sharp, elegant comedy of manners about marriage, independence, and the social rules people pretend to follow. Constance Middleton appears to be the perfect wife: poised, intelligent, gracious, and devoted to maintaining a polished household. But when she learns that her husband is having an affair with her best friend, Constance refuses to react in the way everyone expects.
Rather than collapse into scandal or heartbreak, she quietly takes control of her own life. With wit, confidence, and surprising practicality, Constance challenges the double standards of marriage and turns the situation to her advantage. Sophisticated, funny, and still remarkably pointed, The Constant Wife offers a clever look at love, loyalty, money, and what it means for a woman to define happiness on her own terms.