Amid the gloomy grimy world of South London in the 1890s a world where sorrows are drowned in drink or occasionally lightened by a day out in the country Liza... » 

Amid the gloomy grimy world of South London in the 1890s a world where sorrows are drowned in drink or occasionally lightened by a day out in the country Liza grasps at the chance to escape from the poverty and drudgery of her life. She falls into the open arms of Jim a married man with children. But Vere Street has its rules and conventions and by overstepping them Liza must face the tragic consequences. Published in 1897 Liza of Lambeth was Somerset Maughams first novel and for it he drew on some of his own experiences as a medical student practising in the poorest areas of London. It is a remarkable work portraying with wit and sympsthy a tough often sordid existence and a firl whose story is both touching and memorable. «