Margaret Kennedy
Margaret Moore Kennedy (1896-1967) was a distinguished English author known for her contributions to both fiction and nonfiction. Born in London to a Scottish barrister and a Yorkshire mother, she demonstrated early academic and musical talent, ultimately graduating from Somerville College, Oxford. Kennedy's literary career began with her first nonfiction book, "A Century of Revolution," published in 1922, followed by her successful novel "The Constant Nymph," which became a bestseller in 1925 and was adapted into multiple films and a stage play. Throughout her career, she published several notable works, including novels and plays such as "Escape Me Never!" and "The Midas Touch."
Despite personal challenges, including struggles with depression, Kennedy continued to write passionately until late in her life, earning critical acclaim and the prestigious James Tait Black Award in 1953 for "Troy Chimneys." Her writing is characterized by polished style, wit, and engaging characterization. Kennedy's legacy endures, underscoring her significance in English literature, particularly during the early to mid-20th century. She passed away on July 31, 1967, after a prolonged illness.
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Margaret Kennedy
Author
- Born: April 23, 1896
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: July 31, 1967
- Place of death:
Biography
Margaret Moore Kennedy was born on April 23, 1896, in London, England. She was one of four children born to a barrister of Scottish descent, Charles Moore Kennedy, and Elinor Marwood Kennedy, from Yorkshire. In 1912, she entered Cheltenham Ladies College, where she wrote for the school magazine, received high honors in reading, and became an accomplished pianist with a fondness for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She afterward attended Somerville College at Oxford, graduating in 1919 with second-class honors in history, despite taking a year off after her brother, Tristam Kennedy, a second lieutenant, was killed in Jerusalem during World War I.
![Kennedy, Margaret 1896-1967 By Smithsonian Institution from United States [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons 89874907-76226.jpg](https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/ers/sp/full/89874907-76226.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNHX8kSepq84xNvgOLCmsE2epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS)
Kennedy began her writing career with a nonfiction history book, A Century of Revolution, published in 1922. Her first novel, The Ladies of Lyndon, published in 1923, achieved only modest success. However, her second full-length fictional work, The Constant Nymph, was a smash, becoming the second-best-selling novel of 1925, spending eight weeks at number one of the twenty weeks it remained on the Publishers Weekly best-sellers list. The novel tells the story of a young composer who journeys to the Tyrol to stay with an older composer and his family. He marries a socialite who can advance his career but falls in love with the older composer’s doomed young daughter. The Constant Nymph was adapted for the screen, becoming one of the most popular films of 1928, and it was filmed again in 1934 and 1943. In 1926, Kennedy teamed with Basil Dean to write a stage version of The Constant Nymph, and they collaborated again on the playCome With Me.
In 1925, Kennedy married marine insurancelawyer David Davies, and the couple had three children: Julia (born in 1928), Sarah (called Sally, 1930), and James (1935). She completed the novels The Long Week-End and Red Sky at Morning but suffered severe depression after the birth of her second child while trying to write The Fool of the Family, the sequel to The Constant Nymph.
During the 1930’s, Kennedy published the novels Return I Dare Not and A Long Time Ago before she struck gold again with the popular play Escape Me Never!. Filmed twice in 1935 and 1947, Escape Me Never is about a poverty-stricken composer and his upright brother who become involved, respectively, with a street waif and a debutante.
Kennedy continued to write until late in her life, producing romantic and historical novels, most notably The Midas Touch, Lucy Carmichael, and Troy Chimneys; short stories; plays, including Autumn, written with Gregory Ratoff, and Happy with Either; and nonfiction works, such as The Merchandised Muse and a critical study, Jane Austen. However, her production fell off somewhat after 1952, when her husband, a judge of the English courts, was knighted as Sir David Davies and she became Lady Davies. The last of her full-length works, Not in the Calendar: The Story of a Friendship. was said to be Kennedy’s favorite.
In addition to critical and popular acclaim for her fiction, Kennedy also received the prestigious James Tait Black Award, given annually since 1920 for the best works of biography and fiction in the United Kingdom. Kennedy won the award in 1953 for Troy Chimneys, joining such literary luminaries accorded the honor as D. H. Lawrence, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Iris Murdoch, John le Carré, William Golding, and Salman Rushdie. Noted for her polished style, wit, and skillful characterization, Kennedy died after a long illness on July 31, 1967.