Cakes and Ale / Up at the Villa Author:W. Somerset Maugham CAKES AND ALE is a short novel which cynically dissects the English literary world. On its first appearance, critics believed it to be a satire of Thomas Hardy. Whether true or not, Maugham's characterizations are sharp and clear and the novel scores as polished, sophisticated and amusing. UP AT THE VILLA is the story of a beautiful young Eng... more »lish widow who is living in a village outside Florence, recovering from the recent death of her husband. It being Italy and she being female, she receives proposals of marriage from two men on the same evening. Startling as she finds the proposals, she is even more shocked by the corpse Maugham has in store for her in her bedroom!« less