The Moon and Sixpence

is a novel by W Somerset Maugham, told in episodic form by a first-person narrator, in a series of glimpses into the mind and soul of the central character Charles Strickland, a middle-aged eng stockbroker, who abandons his wife and children abruptly to pursue his desire to become an artist.

The story is said to be loosely based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin.

(Excerpt from Wikipedia)