Boonlua Debhayasuwan was born into a noble Siamese family in 1911 and not only witnessed but participated in the great events of her century. Boonlua became one of the first Thai women to earn a university degree. As an official in the Ministry of Education, she worked to improve and represent Thailand at education conferences. Her essays on literature became the foundation of modern Thai literary criticism and her novels are now recognized as unique social histories of the times in which she lived.