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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

Julie Hayes

Gender: Female

Author Dorothy Salisbury Davis created an unusual female problem-solver in the form of Julie Hayes. She is a middle-aged woman, who was raped in her youth, which led to mental problems. She tests several different professions, including that of a gossip columnist and a fortune teller, and for a long time lives in a dysfunctional marriage with an older man. And she also gets involved in crimes in...

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