The Bishop's Apron

In The Bishop's Apron, W. S. Maugham builds a sharp, socially observant comedy around family ambition, class anxiety, and the uneasy making of respectability. Winnie moves through a world of glittering parties and cramped suburban interiors, where polished manners conceal private embarrassment, wounded pride, and emotional strain. Her visit to Bertram Railing's working-class family home exposes the comic ugliness beneath domestic respectability, and a furious exchange between Bertram's mother and Mrs. Cooper leaves Winnie disillusioned, ashamed, and in tears. Back at home, Canon Spratte responds with mock sympathy, biting wit, and a song that turns cruelty into entertainment, while Lady Sophia warns that the family's social ascent may be slipping back toward middle-class ordinary life. At a later glittering gathering, Winnie's loneliness deepens as she refuses the sincere love of Harry Wroxham, revealing the painful cost of duty, desire, and social expectation in a novel of elegant satire and emotional unease. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.