Robert van Gulik with wife Shui Shih-fang 1946
Sample of authors
Gulik, Robert van
Robert Hans van Gulik was born in Zutphen, the Netherlands, and grew up in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the former Dutch East Indies, where his father served as a medical officer in the Dutch Army. Van Gulik’s father collected Chinese porcelain and passed his interest on to his son who taught himself Mandarin. Robert van Gulik was fascinated by Chinese history and culture, and he became an authority o...
Literary figures
Elma Craggs
Gender: Female
One of the most original problem-solvers in crime literature is Mrs Elma Craggs. She is a cockney and a widow, and has a strenuous and badly-paid job as a cleaning lady. This gains her admittance to various environments. She won’t tolerate any nonsense, and when crimes are committed, she carries out her own investigations with the help of the timid Mrs Millhone. H.R.F. Keating has written a n...