author
Coulson Kernahan
1858–1943
A prolific English novelist and essayist, he wrote popular fiction, literary recollections, and religious reflections that reached a wide readership in the late Victorian and Edwardian years. He is especially remembered for the bestseller God and the Ant and for moving easily between serious moral themes and lighter, conversational writing.
4 Audiobooks
Captain Shannon
by Coulson Kernahan
In good company : Some personal recollections of Swinburne, Lord Roberts, Watts-Dunton, Oscar Wilde Edward Whymper, S. J. Stone, Stephen Phillips
by Coulson Kernahan
A dead man's diary : written after his decease
by Coulson Kernahan
The Dumpling : A detective love story of a great labour rising
by Coulson Kernahan
About the author
Born in Ilfracombe, Devon, on August 1, 1858, and educated privately by his father before attending St Albans School, he went on to build a varied literary career as a novelist, essayist, poet, and contributor to periodicals. He was associated with Frederick Locker-Lampson on a new edition of Lyra Elegantiarum, and his writing ranged from fiction to memoir and religious reflection.
His books were widely read in their day, with God and the Ant becoming especially successful. He also wrote recollections of literary figures he had known, helping preserve a lively picture of late 19th- and early 20th-century literary life. Alongside his literary work, he was known as a strong advocate of compulsory military service before the First World War.
He was married to the novelist Jeanie Gwynne Bettany, who also wrote under the name Mrs. Coulson Kernahan. He died on February 17, 1943. Though not as famous now as some of his contemporaries, his work still offers an interesting mix of storytelling, moral inquiry, and personal literary reminiscence.