Of Human Bondage is Maugham's autobiographical masterpiece. Philip Carey is an orphan with a clubfoot. He grows up to love books and struggles trying to understand why life has been so cruel to him. Then he falls in love, and his life changes forever. This is a most powerful story of sexual infatuation, of human longing for connection and freedom. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Of Human Bondage #66 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.