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Portrait image of John Fowles Photo: Ulf Andersen / Hulton Archive via Getty Images (1987)

Sample of authors

Fowles, John

John Robert Fowles was born in a middle-class family in the Essex town of Leigh-on-Sea. His father, Robert Fowles, dreamt of a career in the legal profession, but when the First World War broke out he was instead forced to take over the family's tobacco business. His mother, Gladys May, was a housewife. Fowles grew up in the security of a terraced housing estate, but later in life he confessed...

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Portrait of James Ellroy Photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic (2006)

Sample of authors

Ellroy, James

Having revolutionized crime fiction in terms of language and style, James Ellroy is now one of America’s foremost contemporary crime writers. He was born Lee Earle Ellroy in Los Angles. His father, Armand Ellroy, was an accountant who moved in dubious Hollywood circles, for example as Rita Hayworth’s financial advisor. Ellroy’s mother, Geneva "Jean" Hilliker, was a nurse. Both parents were alcoh...

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