Loosely inspired by Gauguin's life, the story of Charles Strickland, a middle-aged stockbrocker who abandons his middle-class life, his family, and his duties to start painting, as he has always wanted to do. He is from then on a awful human being, wholly devoted to his ideal: beauty.—Yepok

Charles Strickland is a middle-class, apparently happily married man living and working in London. On what seems to be a spur of the moment decision, he leaves his wife and his life behind and flees to Paris where he hopes to pursue his interest in painting. Over the course of many years, he becomes a more that capable artist but his selfishness apparently knows no bounds. He takes a friend's wife but then discards her when he has no further use for her. He eventually makes his way to Tahiti and married but ultimately finds there is a price to pay.—garykmcd