Sax Rohmer

The Orchard of Tears (Dodo Press) Sax Rohmer

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (1883-1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu. Born in Birmingham he had an entirely working class education and early career before beginning to write. His first published work was in 1903, the short story The Mysterious Mummy for Pearson's Weekly. He made his early living writing comedy sketches for music hall performers and short stories and serials for magazines. He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910 and the first Fu Manchu story, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, was serialized over 1912-13. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. But Rohmer was very poor at handling his wealth. His other works include: The Sins of Severac Bablon (1914), The Yellow Claw (1915), The Devil Doctor (1916), The Hand of Fu-Manchu (1917), Brood of the Witch- Queen (1918), Dope (1919) and Bat Wing (1921).