Stephen McKenna
Stephen McKenna (1888-1967) was a prolific Irish novelist known for his keen observations of early 20th-century British society. Born in England to an Irish family with deep roots in County Monaghan, McKenna's upbringing was shaped by a blend of cultural backgrounds, as he was Protestant in a Catholic lineage. He received his education at Westminster School and Christ College, Oxford, where he earned a B.A. in 1909 and an M.A. in 1913. Although he faced health issues that prevented military service during World War I, McKenna contributed to education by teaching at Westminster while also beginning his literary career, publishing his first novels during this time.
His works often satirized the aristocracy and delved into themes of social critique, marital infidelity, and the effects of wealth on relationships. Notable novels from his extensive bibliography include "The Reluctant Lover," "The Sixth Sense," and "The Commandment of Moses." McKenna's writing style evolved to incorporate fantasy elements and sociopolitical themes, particularly in his series "The Sensationalists" and the Savours of Society trilogy. Despite a decline in the popularity of his works in the 1930s, he continued to write until his later years, producing his final novel, "A Place in the Sun," in 1962. McKenna passed away while working on another autobiographical project.
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Stephen McKenna
Writer
- Born: February 27, 1888
- Birthplace: Beckenham, Kent, England
- Died: September 26, 1967
Biography
Stephen McKenna was born on February 27, 1888, to an Irish family in England whose roots in county Monaghan extended back centuries. Although his forebears were Catholic, he was Protestant, and an uncle on his father’s side held a position in the cabinet of the British prime minister. McKenna attended Westminster School in London and later Christ College at Oxford where he obtained his B.A. in 1909. He entered business the following year but continued his academic studies, obtaining his M.A. in 1913.
Bad health kept him out of military service although he volunteered to teach at Westminster for the 1914-1915 school year. During these years he published three novels, the first of forty-seven he would publish during his lifetime, most satires or dramas of the aristocracy he knew so well. The Reluctant Lover (1912), and Sheila Intervenes (1913) were romantic comedies. The Sixth Sense (1915), about the havoc in social circles a man’s gift of extrasensory perception causes, was the first of his works with a fantasy element. Between 1915 and 1918, McKenna served in the British War Trade Intelligence Department and became a member of the liberal Reform Club. Sonia: Between Two Worlds (1917), one of two novels written during this period, was the first of his works to reflect a strong progressive political sensibility. Two associated novels, Midas and Son, and Sonia Married were published in 1919. Between 1919 and 1920, he wrote the three novels in his series The Sensationalists, Lady Lilith (1920), The Education of Eric Lane (1921), and The Secret Victory(1921), all three critiques of modern London life. These years coincided with travels in South America which would provide materials for his autobiographical While I Remember (1921), and biographical memoir Tex: A Chapter in the Life of Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (1922).
McKenna traveled extensively over the next decade to the West Indies, Guiana, and France, writing all the while. He explored marital infidelity in his novels The Commandment of Moses (1923), Last Confession (1937), and The Home That Jill Broke (1937); sociopolitical themes in his Savours of Society trilogy, consisting of The Realists (1926), The Secretary of State (1927), and Due Reckoning (1927); the resurgence of pagan worship in the comic fantasy The Oldest God (1926); and the consequences of a penal colony established after the abolition of capital punishment in the dystopic fantasy Beyond Hell (1931). Invariably, his books castigated the hypocrisy of the monied classes and the negative impact of wealth and greed on social and domestic relations. Artists also figured prominently as highly cultured protagonists with feet of clay in his novels The Redemption of Morley Darville (1930), Magic Quest (1933), and Breasted Amazon (1938).
By the 1930’s, most of McKenna’s novels were no longer being published in American editions. His output slowed tremendously with the outbreak of World War II and his work as secretary of the Enemy Exports Committee, Ministry of Economic Warfare. He published only five more novels after the war, his last being A Place in the Sun (1962). McKenna was at work on another autobiographical volume when he died on September 26, 1967.