The stories in this collection move from Malaya to the U.S. to England and include some of Maugham's most famous tales: "Flotsam and Jetsam," the story of an old woman trapped for years in a loveless marriage in the remote rubber plantations; "The Man with the Scar," and notably the opening story "The Vessel of Wrath," a tale of the unexpected love between a devout missionary nurse and a drunken reprobate.