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Portrait image of Leslie Charteris Photo: Hulton Archives via Getty Images (c.1965)

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Charteris, Leslie

Leslie Charteris was born in colonial Singapore as Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin. His father, Suat Chuan Yin, was a wealthy physician and company manager who claimed he was related to an ancient Chinese imperial family. Charteris' mother, Lydia Florence Bowyer, was English. Young Leslie was educated at home and on the many journeys he made with his parents; he claimed to have toured the world three...

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Portrait of William Boyd Photo: Peter Peitsch (2009) / www.peitschphoto.com

Sample of authors

Boyd, William

The British author William Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana. His father, a doctor, and his mother, a teacher, moved to The British Gold Coast in 1950, and Boyd grew up in a house full of black servants. The British Gold Coast became independent Ghana when he was five years old, and the family moved to Nigeria, whose independence in 1960 was followed by military coups and civil war. The war in...

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