Elizabeth Jenkins
Elizabeth Jenkins was an English author and biographer, born in 1905 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Her formative years were influenced by her father’s conversion of a nursery into a writing study, which sparked her passion for literature. Jenkins pursued her education at Newman College, Cambridge, where she studied history and literature from 1924 to 1927, and came to know prominent literary figures such as Leonard and Virginia Woolf. She began her career as an English teacher at King Alfred School, a role she maintained until 1939, after which she served as a civil servant during World War II.
In 1945, Jenkins committed to writing full-time, producing several works, including notable biographies of Queen Elizabeth I and Jane Austen. Austen was particularly significant to her, as Jenkins was involved with the Jane Austen Society in her early years. Among her fictional works, her novel "Harriet" garnered attention for its dark themes, exploring the sinister dynamics of family greed. Later in life, Jenkins' perspective shifted, leading to a more cynical view of her earlier literary heroes. In her centenarian years, she published a memoir reflecting on her extensive career as a literary critic and novelist.
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Subject Terms
Elizabeth Jenkins
Author
- Born: October 31, 1905
- Birthplace: Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England
- Died: September 5, 2010
Biography
Elizabeth Jenkins was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, in 1905. Her father’s conversion of a nursery into a writing study was an integral part of her childhood and a formative influence to continue her pursuit of the written word. From 1924 to 1927, Jenkins studied history and literature at Newman College, located in Cambridge, garnering degrees in both disciplines. Around this time, she also came into contact with Leonard and Virginia Woolf, to whom she was able to relate because she admired them so much. After earning her degrees, she taught English at King Alfred School, a job she kept until 1939. During World War II, she took a position as a civil servant for Britain. Directly following the war in 1945, she decided to begin writing full time.
While Jenkins published a number of books, her most notable were two biographies she wrote. The first, Elizabeth the Great, documented the life of Queen Elizabeth, and the second recounted the life of Jane Austen. The latter figure was a central influence upon Jenkins; she was an active member of the Jane Austin Society in her youth. Perhaps Jenkins’s best- known novel was the Femina Vie-Heureuse prize-winning Harriet, a dark and sinister narrative of a young girl who was starved to death by her money-hungry relatives who eagerly awaited her inheritance.
In her old age Jenkins’s outlook changed drastically from the observatory, open-minded perspective of her youth to a deeply suspicious view of the world. She said that her feelings toward onetime heroes of hers, such as Woolf, were replaced by disgust and contempt for “selfish neurotics who damage other people’s lives.” When she became a centegenarian, Jenkins released a memoir that chronicled her many years as a literary critic and independent novelist.