Where Stands a Winged Sentry

‘Most people knew in their hearts that the lid had been taken off hell, and that what had been done in Guernica would one day be done in London, Paris and Berlin.’ Margaret Kennedy’s prophetic words, written about the pre-war mood in Europe, give the tone of this riveting 1941 wartime memoir: it is Mrs Miniver with the gloves off. Her account, taken from her war diaries, conveys the tension, frustration and bewilderment of the progression of the war, and the terror of knowing that the worst is to come, but not yet knowing what the worst will be. English bravery, confusion, stubbornness and dark humour (‘Nanny says that an Abbess is threatening to swallow the whole of Europe’) provide the positive, more hopeful side of her experiences, in which she and her children move from Surrey to Cornwall, to sit out the war amidst a quietly efficient Home Guard and the most scandalous rumours. Where Stands A Wingèd Sentry (the title comes from a 17th-century poem by Henry Vaughan) was only published in the USA, and has never been published in the UK before. Margaret Kennedy (1896-1967) made her name as a novelist with The Ladies of Lyndon (1923) and The Constant Nymph (1924), and continued publishing until the year before her death. The Introduction will be by Faye Hammill, Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow.

Margaret Kennedy was a novelist and playwright, most famous for her second novel The Constant Nymph (1924). She was born in London on 23 April 1896, the eldest of four children, and holidayed with her family in Cornwall for years. Margaret read history at Somerville College, Oxford. Her brother Tristram was killed in 1918 fighting near Jerusalem. Margaret graduated with the equivalent of a second-class degree in history in 1919 (the year before women were allowed to take their degrees at Oxford). In 1923 her first novel was published, The Ladies of Lyndon, which received little attention. While she was working on this book she had gone to Pertisau on Achensee in the Austrian Tyrol to stay with friends, and discovered a passion for mountains and walking. It also gave her a setting for her next novel, The Constant Nymph, and she returned to Pertisau to finish the novel. The Constant Nymph was widely acclaimed, and Margaret received congratulations from the leading literary figures of the day, including Thomas Hardy, George Moore, A E Housman and Arnold Bennett. She married in 1925, and had three children. In the late 1920s the family bought Hendre Hall, a large house in Llwyngwril near Barmouth on the North Wales coast, which was their holiday home for many years. In 1937 David Davies became a County Court judge, while Margaret had become a leading literary figure. With the approach of war Margaret's health began to deteriorate due to emotional stress. By the middle of 1940 the family had left Hendre Hall for a brief stay in Surrey, and then Margaret and the children moved to St Ives with Nanny, while David remained in London. Margaret visited London frequently for committees and to see her husband, and eventually moved her children and Nanny out of their rented home into a hotel, which made her housekeeping much easier. In 1943 she and the children and Nanny left Cornwall, for James to go to prep school and the girls to go to Oxford High School. In July 1944 their London house was completely destroyed by a VI flying bomb. They moved into a new home a few streets away, at 11 Argyll Road, where the family stayed for fourteen years. In 1947 Margaret visited the USA for the first time, and began writing a new cycle of novels, and an acclaimed biography of Jane Austen. More critical writing followed, accompanied by increasing deafness. David Davies was knighted in 1952. His death in 1964 was a great blow to Margaret. Her health continued to deteriorate, and she died in 1967 aged seventy-one. Margaret Kennedy was a novelist and playwright, most famous for her second novel The Constant Nymph (1924). She was born in London on 23 April 1896, the eldest of four children, and holidayed with her family in Cornwall for years. Margaret read history at Somerville College, Oxford. Her brother Tristram was killed in 1918 fighting near Jerusalem. Margaret graduated with the equivalent of a second-class degree in history in 1919 (the year before women were allowed to take their degrees at Oxford). In 1923 her first novel was published, The Ladies of Lyndon, which received little attention. While she was working on this book she had gone to Pertisau on Achensee in the Austrian Tyrol to stay with friends, and discovered a passion for mountains and walking. It also gave her a setting for her next novel, The Constant Nymph, and she returned to Pertisau to finish the novel. The Constant Nymph was widely acclaimed, and Margaret received congratulations from the leading literary figures of the day, including Thomas Hardy, George Moore, A E Housman and Arnold Bennett. She married in 1925, and had three children. In the late 1920s the family bought Hendre Hall, a large house in Llwyngwril near Barmouth on the North Wales coast, which was their holiday home for many years. In 1937 David Davies became a County Court judge, while Margaret had become a leading literary figure. With the approach of war Margaret's health began to deteriorate due to emotional stress. By the middle of 1940 the family had left Hendre Hall for a brief stay in Surrey, and then Margaret and the children moved to St Ives with Nanny, while David remained in London. Margaret visited London frequently for committees and to see her husband, and eventually moved her children and Nanny out of their rented home into a hotel, which made her housekeeping much easier. In 1943 she and the children and Nanny left Cornwall, for James to go to prep school and the girls to go to Oxford High School. In July 1944 their London house was completely destroyed by a VI flying bomb. They moved into a new home a few streets away, at 11 Argyll Road, where the family stayed for fourteen years. In 1947 Margaret visited the USA for the first time, and began writing a new cycle of novels, and an acclaimed biography of Jane Austen. More critical writing followed, accompanied by increasing deafness. David Davies was knighted in 1952. His death in 1964 was a great blow to Margaret. Her health continued to deteriorate, and she died in 1967 aged seventy-one. Faye Hammill is Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow. Her specialist areas are modernism and the middlebrow, periodical studies, and Canadian literature. She is author or co-author of six books, most recently Modernism's Print Cultures (2016), with Mark Hussey; Magazines, Travel, and Middlebrow Culture (2015), with Michelle Smith; and Sophistication: A Literary and Cultural History (2010). She is founder of the AHRC Middlebrow Network.