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Portrait image of W. Somerset Maugham Photo: 1929 Bassano/Camera Press / TT

Sample of authors

Maugham, W. Somerset

William Somerset Maugham was a British author born in Paris. His father was a lawyer at the British Embassy there. When Maugham was eight years old, his mother died of tuberculosis, two years later his father died of cancer and the boy was sent to live with his uncle, the Vicar of Whitstable in Kent. Maugham suffered from a serious stammer, he was shy and avoided speaking in public; unlike his...

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Literary figures

Race Williams

Gender: Male

He is considered to be the very first of the most cynical, violent and so-called hard-boiled detectives in crime fiction. He shoots first, and asks questions later, and is the main character in a suite of novels and short stories by Carroll John Daly. Race Williams is a large and strong man, quick-witted and skilled with weapons. He works first in New York and Chicago, and later on the American...

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