Frank Wilson Kenyon spent his young childhood in Lancashire, England, until his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was twelve years old. There, his father ran a grocery shop and Kenyon started to discover some of the writers who would later influence his own work, including Dickens, Maupassant, Somerset Maugham and H.G. Wells. After leaving school, he worked in a department store before moving to London for two years in his early twenties to develop a writing career.
On his return to New Zealand, Kenyon began to have articles and short stories published. He also wrote a number of successful radio plays, including 'Josephine', New Zealand's first long radio serial. In 1942, Kenyon married Awdrey Mary Leathes, and there was a daughter, Vivian, by a previous marriage.
Between 1952 and 1974, Kenyon published 23 novels, most of which feature historical settings and subjects. He lived for a time with his wife in England, but eventually returned to settle in Sydney.
Note: with a number of Kenyon's novels, it has not been possible to determine whether the first edition was the UK or US edition. It seems likely that several titles were published simultaneously in the UK and USA.
