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.

Exempted from military service during World War I due to poor health, McKenna taught at Westminster from 1914 to 1915 and worked for the British War Trade Intelligence Department from 1915 until 1918. He also participated in the Balfour Mission to the United States in 1917, a political delegation sent to establish friendships and coordinate war efforts between England and America prompted by America's imminent declaration of war on Germany. During World War II, McKenna again served his country as secretary of Enemy Exports Committee of Ministry of Economic Warfare between 1939 and 1940. Throughout his life, McKenna maintained an interest in politics and the future of England's national character, a concern he attempted to address in his fiction as well.

In 1917, towards the end of World War I, McKenna published his fifth and best-known novel, Sonia: Between Two Worlds, which sold through twelve editions by the end of the year. Sonia 's plot follows the political and social adventures of three young Oxford men from 1890 to 1917 and was lauded for its depiction of the changes in English governing class society brought on by World War I. Following the success of Sonia, McKenna continued to publish books, sometimes two a year, in England and America, although he remained most popular in England due to his focus on the particularities of English society. Other notable publications include Ninety-Six Hours' Leave (1917), Midas and Son (1919) and Sonia Married (1919).

The majority of McKenna's fiction can be characterized as sentimental romances and morality tales known for their meticulous detailing of pre-war upper-class life. However, he also wrote several nonfiction works, including an autobiography titled While I Remember (1921), a biography of his friend the translator Alexander Teixeira de Mattos titled Tex: A Chapter in the Life of Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (1922), and a biography of his uncle titled Reginald McKenna, 1863-1943: A Memoir (1948). McKenna continued to write until his death on September 26, 1967.

"Stephen McKenna."Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2002. (reproduced in Literature Resource Center). http://galenet.galegroup.com (accessed October 12, 2010). Seymour-Smith, Martin, and Andrew C. Kimmens. eds."McKenna, Stephen." World Authors 1900-1950.H.W. Wilson Co., 1996. (reproduced in Biography Reference Bank). http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/ (accessed October 13, 2010). Johnson, George J. ed. "Stephen McKenna."Late-Victorian and Edwardian British Novelists: Second Series.Detroit: Gale Research, 1999. (reproduced in Literature Resource Center). http://galenet.galegroup.com (accessed October 13, 2010).

From the guide to the Stephen McKenna papers, 1917-1966, 1917-1935, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)