McKenna, Stephen, 1888-1967

English novelist Stephen McKenna (1888-1967) published forty-seven novels and six nonfiction books during his lifetime. Most of his fiction focuses on English upper-class society drama interwoven with themes of politics and morality.

Of Irish heritage, McKenna was born February 27, 1888, in Beckenhem, Kent, England. McKenna's uncle, Reginald McKenna (1863-1943) was a politician, banker, and Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928). Stephen McKenna was educated at Westminster School, London and Christ College, Oxford, where he received a B.A. in 1909 and an M.A. in 1913. He published his first novel while at Oxford, a sentimental romance titled The Reluctant Lover (1912). His family's wealth and social and political connections gave McKenna access to the English aristocracy of which he wrote.

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