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...
Literary figures
Cordelia Gray
Gender: Female
A young private detective in only two novels by P.D. James; many readers have complained that there weren’t any more. She grew up with her foster parents – her mother died an hour after the birth of her daughter – and as an adult became the secretary to the private detective Bernie G. Pryde. When he died of cancer, Cordelia Gray inherited his agency. She is attractive, but despite her successes sh...