Photo: Murray/Fairfax Media via Getty Images (1960)
Sample of authors
Marsh, Ngaio
The New Zealand author Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was born in Merivale, Christchurch. Her father was an immigrant English bank manager and her mother was born in New Zealand, although her family too originally came from England. Ngaio is the Maori word for "reflection on water". A somewhat eccentric and confused man, Marsh's father did not report his daughter's birth to the authorities until 1900,...
Literary figures
Patrick Petrella
Gender: Male
He spent his childhood in Spain, where his father was a police detective. When he was eight years old, his English mother sent him to her home country, and he came to stay there for good. Michael Gilbert has written two novels and more than 50 short stories about Patrick Petrella, who becomes a police officer, marries Jane Orfrey and has a son. Readers get to follow his professional career from...