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Margaret Kennedy (1) (1896–1967)

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28+ verk 1,524 medlemmar 57 recensioner 7 favoritmärkta

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Foto taget av: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Verk av Margaret Kennedy

Cirkus Sanger (1924) 385 exemplar
Festen (1950) 270 exemplar
Troy Chimneys (1952) 213 exemplar
Kloka fruarna på Lyndon (1923) 201 exemplar
En skilsmässa (1936) 133 exemplar
Lucy Carmichael (1951) 68 exemplar
The Forgotten Smile (1961) 42 exemplar
Where Stands a Winged Sentry (1942) 40 exemplar
Stormvarning (1927) 28 exemplar
Familjens dumbom (1929) 21 exemplar
Jane Austen (1950) 16 exemplar
The Wild Swan (1957) 13 exemplar
A Night in Cold Harbour (1960) 12 exemplar
The Oracles (1955) 11 exemplar
The outlaws of Parnassus (1957) 11 exemplar
En weekend (1931) 11 exemplar
Ingen visste det (1932) 10 exemplar
The Man in Grey [1943 film] — Original book — 8 exemplar
The Midas Touch (1938) 5 exemplar
The game and the candle (1928) 4 exemplar
Dewdrops (1928) 4 exemplar
Not in the Calendar (1964) 4 exemplar
A Long Week-End (1927) 4 exemplar
Act of God (1972) 4 exemplar
Women at Work (1966) 2 exemplar
Come With Me (1928) 1 exemplar

Associerade verk

A Chaplet for Charlotte Yonge (1965) — Bidragsgivare — 7 exemplar
Escape Me Never [1947 film] (1947) — Original book — 2 exemplar
American Aphrodite (Volume Three, Number Ten) (1953) — Bidragsgivare — 2 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Namn enligt folkbokföringen
Davies, Margaret Moore
Andra namn
Kennedy, Margaret Moore (birth)
Lady Davies
Födelsedag
1896-04-23
Avled
1967-07-31
Kön
female
Nationalitet
UK
Födelseort
London, England, UK
Dödsort
Adderbury, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Bostadsorter
London, England, UK
Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Kensington, London, England, UK
Utbildning
Cheltenham Ladies College
Oxford University (Somerville College, Modern History)
Yrken
literary critic
biographer
screenwriter
playwright
novelist
historian
Relationer
Mackesy, Serena (granddaughter)
Cary, Joyce (cousin)
Birley, Julia (daughter)
Priser och utmärkelser
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1953)
Agent
Camilla Hornby (Curtis Brown)
Kort biografi
Margaret Kennedy was the eldest in a family of four children. Joyce Cary, the novelist, was a cousin on her father's side. Margaret attended Cheltenham Ladies' College, where she began writing, and in 1915 went up to Oxford University to read modern history. She made her publishing debut with a work of history, A Century of Revolution: 1789-1920 (1922). In 1925, she married David Davies, a barrister who later became a county court judge and a national insurance commissioner. They had three children. He was knighted in 1952, making her Lady Davies. Margaret Kennedy is famous today for her second novel, The Constant Nymph, which she adapted into a highly successful London play that starred Noël Coward and later John Gielgud; it was also made into wildly successful films in 1928, 1933, and 1943, and into a television drama in 1938. She was a prolific writer who produced further bestsellers, including Escape Me Never (1934), but none achieved the phenomenal worldwide popularity of The Constant Nymph. She also published a biography of Jane Austen and a study of the art of fiction. Novelist Serena Mackesy is her granddaughter.

EXCERPT from Biography of Magaret Kennedy by Violet Powell on OxfordDNB.com: Having become famous, originally, as the author of a tragic fairy-tale was something of a handicap to Margaret Kennedy when it came to gaining a reputation as a novelist to be taken seriously. She was, however, much in demand as a judge of literary prizes, and as an active and forceful member of professional committees. Of her eight pre-1940 novels, A Long Time Ago (1932) was one of the most psychologically perceptive, contrasting the disillusions of early middle age with the uncertainties of children struggling towards puberty, their family party on an Irish holiday being disrupted by a seductive prima donna. On the other hand The Midas Touch (1938), a Daily Mail book of the month, dealt with a money-making gift, passed down through generations with a climax of Gothic disaster.

After the Second World War Margaret Kennedy returned to novel writing with The Feast (1950), a Literary Guild choice in the USA. Among her later novels, Troy Chimneys (1953) won the James Tait Black memorial prize, while The Heroes of Clone (1957) owed much of its dark humour to its author's experience as a scriptwriter for films. Keenly interested in the technique of writing, Margaret Kennedy published a short biography of Jane Austen in 1950, and a study of the art of fiction, Outlaws on Parnassus in 1958, both works of percipient criticism. She accepted, in due course, an invitation to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Margaret Kennedy was tall and dark; she was a good pianist and had a fine singing voice. Music was a passion which she shared with her husband. They were also fond of mountain walking and were fortunate in finding a house near Cadair Idris in north Wales, from where such walks were inexhaustible. The loss of Sir David Davies, in 1964, left his widow alone to face the debilitating illness of her son, James. In spite of these blows, she continued to make plans for further books until she died in her sleep on 31 July 1967 at the house of a friend, 1 Le Hall Place, Adderbury, Oxfordshire.

EXCERPT from "Women, Celebrity, and Literary Culture between the Wars" by Faye Hammill: Yet Kennedy deserves to be remembered for more than a single book and a single character. Her critical and creative texts offer intriguing analyses of celebrity, genius, taste, and art. Her writing explores cultural value, and at the same, her best-selling yet critically acclaimed novels pose a serious challenge to cultural hierarchy and to the metanarratives of literary history."

Medlemmar

Diskussioner

Margaret Kennedy i Virago Modern Classics (juli 2013)

Recensioner

It's the summer of 1947 and we are in Cornwall on the coast in a small cliff-side inn. We know from the opening pages that the cliff collapses on the inn, and people die. As the story goes back to the week before the collapse, we meet the owners, the staff, the guests, and their families, as they go about their day-to-day activities. As the week progresses we are left to wonder who will die and who, if anyone, will live. Of course, some of the characters are "nice" and kind, and we sympathize with them, maybe even love them. And some are selfish, mean, even evil. Maybe we are hoping they will be the ones to die. And there are the children. Some are little demons, some spoiled brats, some adorable angels. One of the interesting things about the characters is that some of the characters are said to represent the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, Lechery, and Covetness. I had fun puzzling who was which sin.

Beyond the wonderful characters the book presents us with, it gives us a very good feel for what it was like to live in England in the aftermath of the World War II. It's still "austerity" Britain, and rationing is in full effect.

I really enjoyed this book and would like to read more by this author.

4 stars
… (mer)
1 rösta
Flaggad
arubabookwoman | 9 andra recensioner | Dec 30, 2023 |
In post-WWII England the Pendizack Manor Hotel holds a cast of characters, there for a seaside vacation, each with their own past and agenda for the future. The hotel sits at the base of a cliff in Cornwall. A mine has recently floated into a cave and exploded, weakening the cliff. At the beginning we know the cliff will collapse on the hotel, but not who dies or survives.

The bulk of the story follows the guests, owners and staff. Relationships develop, character is revealed, plans are made. There’s going to be a feast on the cliff with all participants in costume, children and adults. Some will remain behind at the hotel for various reasons. This is when the cliff will collapse.

Originally published in 1950, parts of the book sound like they could have been written today:
“All the politicians have taken to talking as if they were God’s Head Prefects. Look how they quote the bible at us! Look how they insult anyone who disagrees with them!”

“He was a Liberal – the kind of Liberal which turns pink in blue surroundings and lilac at any murmur from Moscow.”
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Hagelstein | 9 andra recensioner | Jun 6, 2023 |
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy is an intelligent, literary novel being re-release by McNally Editions. Originally published in 1949, this very highly recommended novel is a morality play covering the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. Set at the Pendizack Manor Hotel at the seaside in Cornwall in the summer of 1947, readers will know from the start that a cliff will destroy the the hotel and only sixteen survive the collapse. Before we know who survives, we are introduced to the guests, the family that runs the inn and their staff.

As a character driven novel, The Feast excels as both a character study and a morality story. The focus is on the characters, their actions, integrity, and true nature. It is a pleasure to read and discover such a delightful, thoughtful, and memorable novel. It is quite clear why The Feast was re-released for a new generation of readers. This would be a perfect summer vacation read.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of McNally Editions via Edleweiss.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2023/05/the-feast.html
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
SheTreadsSoftly | 9 andra recensioner | May 30, 2023 |
Re-read, July 2022: Enjoyed the writing on this second time through, but a little more struck by the melancholy tone of the book, and impatient with the trivial maneuvering and plotting at the Institute where Lucy goes to work.

Original review follows:

This was just great. Unfortunately I kept putting it down and picking it up, so it took a long time to finish, but it has placed a new author squarely on my radar and I hope I can enjoy more of her books.

Lucy Carmichael is left at the altar on her wedding day. Is her life over? Far from it. She may be a little numb, but life goes on, and she isn't destroyed. Her future feels completely undecipherable, but she marks time by accepting a teaching post in a second-rate institute that has a lot of social politics going on. Lucy throws herself into the life and finds a surprising amount of interest in it. The people she deals with cause her to face a certain question that is now a part of her life...is it wrong to "settle" for an inferior type of happiness?

I really like Lucy, who is a nice balance of strength and wounds. She's emotionally honest with herself, which is very mature. I really like her best friend Melissa, who is fun, but also anxious and keeping a strong grip on her own feelings. It's actually difficult to describe these people, because they feel very complex on the page, which means excellent writing. Yes, the writing is of high quality, with a good combination of dialogue and inner thoughts.

Oh, and did I forget to mention, the ending is all that it should be and then some.

If this book sounds like possibly your cup of tea, read some of the other reviews. Some of them bring out other very nice points.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Alishadt | 2 andra recensioner | Feb 25, 2023 |

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Statistik

Verk
28
Även av
3
Medlemmar
1,524
Popularitet
#16,878
Betyg
3.9
Recensioner
57
ISBN
86
Språk
6
Favoritmärkt
7

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