THE BACK OF BEYOND, W Somerset Maugham, with New Narration

Newly narrated. When Resident George Moon faces his final day in the Federated Malay States, he looks back on a life governed by duty, not warmth. Feared but never loved, he prepares to retire into irrelevance—until a visit from a planter named Tom Saffary changes everything. What begins as a perfunctory call of condolence over a friend’s death unfolds into a confession of betrayal, jealousy, and moral ruin that exposes the rot beneath colonial civility. In the sweltering silence of the tropics, reason and restraint peel away, revealing what remains when pride, love, and honor collide. A masterpiece of irony and insight, The Back of Beyond lays bare the fragile crust of order that separates the civilized man from the primal mud beneath his feet.