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Frances Parkinson Keyes


Frances Parkinson Keyes (July 21, 1885 – July 3, 1970) was an American author, and a convert to Roman Catholicism, whose works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."

Frances Parkinson Wheeler was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. She married Henry W. Keyes ("Henry Wilder, always called Harry") on June 8th, 1904. They had three sons together. They lived in Washington, D.C., and Virginia for a quarter of a century while Henry, a Republican, served in the United States Senate. He had earlier served as Governor of New Hampshire. The story of their courtship is told in Mrs. Keyes' first autobiography, Roses in December. The story of their marriage is recounted in her second autobiography, All Flags Flying. Henry Keyes was much older than his bride and, having never married before, was quite set in his ways. Early on he was dismissive of his wife's writing talent, and the acceptance of her first manuscript by a reputable publisher was a triumph personally as well as professionally. She wrote a series of articles for Good Housekeeping magazine beginning in the 1920s titled "Letters from a Senator's Wife." These were eventually collected into a book by the same name, one of three nonfiction books she wrote about her experiences in Washington. (The others were Capital Kaleidoscope and All Flags Flying. Her 1941 novel All That Glitters is also about Washington politics.)

Educated privately at home and later at Miss Windsor's school in Boston, Keyes had college ambitions that she abandoned upon her engagement. It was a loss she felt so acutely that, according to her autobiography "Roses in December," she extracted a promise from her fiance that should they ever have a daughter, she would be given the opportunity to attend college. Mrs. Keyes commented that this was the only promise she asked for upon her engagement, and that it was highly unusual in that era for an unmarried couple to speak of possible future children - a measure of how strongly she felt about education and how greatly she regretted her lost opportunities. Her education was supplemented with extensive travel in Europe, and she grew up trilingual, speaking English, French and German. Health issues forced her to abandon her study of Greek in school as her mother and physician felt she was carrying too heavy an academic load.

Keyes' first book, The Old Gray Homestead, was published in 1919. In 1934 Keyes received an honorary Litt.D. from Bates College. Upon her spouse's death in 1938, she wrote books and magazine articles prolifically. Her novels are set in New England, Virginia, Louisiana, Normandy and South America, reflecting her upbringing and extensive travel.


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