Escape From The Shadows is the 1972 autobiography of Robin Maugham, later the 2nd Viscount Maugham.
The title refers to three huge shadows over Maugham’s life: his famous father, Frederick Herbert Maugham, his uncle, W. Somerset Maugham, and his homosexuality.
The first part of the book concentrates on Maugham’s school days at Highfield House and Eton College. After his school days, Maugham lives predominantly as a homosexual with a preference for boys aged at least 16, including rent boys, and never engaging in sexual activities with under-age boys.
Famous quotes containing the words escape from, escape and/or shadows:
“To retire to the monastery, or the woods, or the sea, is to escape from the sharp suggestions that spur on ambition.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“Those who escape death in great disasters are surely destined for good fortune later.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Like strange mechanical grotesques,
Making fantastic arabesques,
The shadows raced across the blind.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)