author

Nina H. Kennard

1844–1926

Known for lively biographies and a novel of her own, she wrote about celebrated figures including Sarah Siddons, Rachel, and Lafcadio Hearn. Her books suggest a writer drawn to strong personalities and the drama of literary and theatrical lives.

2 Audiobooks

Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn

by Nina H. Kennard

Mrs. Siddons

Mrs. Siddons

by Nina H. Kennard

About the author

Annie "Nina" Homan-Mulock Kennard (1844–1926) was an Irish author who published as Nina H. Kennard. She is remembered chiefly for biographical writing, especially books on the actress Sarah Siddons, the French performer Rachel, and the writer Lafcadio Hearn.

She also wrote the novel Hélène, showing that her work ranged beyond biography into fiction. Surviving reference sources link her with the name Mrs. Arthur Kennard after her 1866 marriage to Arthur Challis Kennard, but her published work is most often associated with the byline Nina H. Kennard.

Although she is not widely known today, her subjects reveal the kind of writer she was: curious about famous, complicated lives and interested in bringing literary and theatrical history to general readers.