Sample of literary figures
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Maureen O’Donnell
Female
She is the protagonist in the prize-winning Garnethill trilogy by the Scottish crime writer Denise Mina. Young Maureen is a human wreck: sexually abused by her father, her mother an alcoholic, her brother a drug dealer. She has spent time in a mental hospital, and started a relationship with her psychiatrist. But she is stubborn and determined, and struggles to solve the problems and crimes she comes across.
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Richard Hannay
Male
He was born in Scotland, learnt German from his father’s business friends, but grew up in South Africa. He was a soldier in the Boer War, but moved back to England in 1914, and was drawn into the first of the adventures that John Buchan wrote about him. Richard Hanney was a spy in the First World War, but subsequently married Mary Lamington, had a son called Peter John, and became a farmer.
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Temperance Brennan
Female
Middle-aged but well-preserved and internationally renowned forensic anthropologist, who (in Kathy Reichs’ novels) works in Canada and the USA, as well as other countries. In the first book, Temperance ‘Tempe’ Brennan is newly divorced and a sober alcoholic. Important people in her life are her daughter Kate, who goes to college, police detective Andrew Ryan, with whom she has an on-and-off relationship, and her sister Harriet.
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Charlie Chan
Male
Charlie Chan is a Chinese police inspector who works in Honolulu where he lives with his large family. The friendly, polite and calm Chan solves tricky cases in six whodunits by the American author Earl Derr Biggers. Chan is also the protagonist in a couple of dozen films that together with the books have made him a classic character.