
Sample of authors
Highsmith, Patricia
Patricia Highsmith was an American author born in Fort Worth, Texas, as Mary Patricia Plangman. Both parents were artists who worked with illustrations and advertising. They separated before Highsmith was born, and her mother married Stanley Highsmith in 1924. The family moved to New York in 1927, a sad period for Highsmith. Her relationship with her mother was fraught and she did not get on...

Sample of authors
Cross, Amanda
Carolyn Gold Heilbrun was a successful American academic, feminist and author of a series of mystery novels published under the pen name Amanda Cross, which came to have a major influence on future women crime writers. She was born to a Jewish family in East Orange, New Jersey. The family moved to Manhattan in 1923 where Gold attended Birch Wathen School. She enrolled at Columbia University, New...