Lena Kennedy
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Lena Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 June 1914 Hoxton, London, U.K. |
| Died | 1 August 1986 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Writer |
Lena Kennedy (15 June 1914 – 1 August 1986), was an English author. Her books were mostly historic romantic fiction set in and around the East End of London where she lived for all her life. Some of her books, including her autobiography, were published posthumously.
She appeared, as a subject, on the television programme This Is Your Life shortly before her death in 1986.[citation needed]
Biography
[edit]Lena Kennedy grew up in Hoxton,[1] an area in the London Borough of Hackney. She attended Gospel Street school, leaving at fourteen to work in a tailoring factory. Her father was Cornelius Erin Kennedy and her mother Margaret Murphy were Irish immigrants from Cork. On 13 April 1938 she married Frederick George Smith and they had two children. Her first novel was published when she was sixty-four,[2] and she went on to write sixteen best-selling books.[3]
Kennedy died from cancer in 1986. Her literary career was commemorated with a blue plaque in 1995.[1][3]
Bibliography
[edit]Fiction
[edit]- Maggie (1979)[2]
- Autumn Alley (1980)
- Kitty (1981)
- Nelly Kelly (1981)
- Lizzie (1983)
- Lady Penelope (1984)
- Susan (1985)
- Lily, My Lovely (1985)
- Down Our Street (1987)
- Dandelion Seed (1988)
- Eve's Apples (1989)
- Inn on the Marsh (1989)
- Owen Oliver (1990)
- Kate of Clyve Shore (collection) (1992)
- Ivy of the Angel (collection) 1993)
- Queenie's Castle (1994)[4]
Autobiographical works
[edit]- Away to the Woods: The Autobiography of Lena Kennedy (1995)[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Plaque is novel tribute". Waltham Forest Independent. 23 November 2001. p. 5. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Maggie of the East End when it was really down--but not out". Dorset Echo. 4 April 1979. p. 23. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Roots, Alan (6 October 1995). "Shack with a plaque honours author's last wish". Medway News. p. 27. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "Book review". Sleaford Target. 15 February 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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- 1914 births
- 1986 deaths
- 20th-century English novelists
- 20th-century British autobiographers
- People from Hoxton
- Writers from the London Borough of Hackney
- English romantic fiction writers
- English historical novelists
- English women historical novelists
- 20th-century English women novelists
- English women romantic fiction writers
- English novelist stubs