THE EXPLORER (1907) by W. Somerset Maugham is a story of the proud Allertons whose fortune has been squandered, and whose three-hundred-year estate Hamlyn"s Purlieu stands to be lost to the family. Lucy and George Allerton, brother and sister, are resolved to overcome the mistakes of their father, Fred Allerton. A powerful exploration of relationships and familial bonds by a true master of the human psyche.