BBC Radio 4 Extra

Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham

Drama: Classic & Period

Collection of short stories from the literary giant

Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham: Series 3

Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham: Series 3: Episode 5: The Book Bag

Episode 5

Episode 5: The Book Bag

Series 3

The Book Bag

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham, Series 3, The Book Bag

A brother and sister share a dangerous secret.

Brother and sister, Tim and Olive Hardy, share a dangerous secret. They try everything in their power to keep it from others until Tim has to go away on a trip.

Tim and Olive Hardy are brother and sister and share a dangerous secret. They try everything in their power to keep it from others until Tim has to go away on a trip.

Interviewed in 1933, Maugham said, 'It has always seemed to me that literature can only find its fullest and freest expression in the essay or short story.' He wrote more than 100 stories, at least 14 of which he burned on one of his 'bonfire nights', after Winston Churchill warned that they contravened the Official Secrets Act. Of the stories that do survive, he said, 'some of them deal with circumstances and places to which the passage of time and the growth of civilisation will give a romantic glamour.'

A collection of Maugham's best stories with tales from home and abroad. Tales of intrigue from far flung colonial outposts and tales of passion from quintessentially British hearths.

Maugham writes perfect vignettes - snapshots of human life in all its diversity - captured at a moment of crisis or revelation.

Abridged by Polly Coles
Read by Daniel Weyman 
Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
Produced by Clive Brill.

A Brill Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Series 3 of Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham. Made for 4 Extra.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham

Series 3

Episode 5: The Book Bag

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 Extra

About BBC Radio 4 Extra