Leila Mackinlay

Leila Antionette Sterling Mackinlay (5 September 1910 – 13 April 1996) was a British writer of romance novels from 1930 to 1979 as Leila S. Mackinlay or Leila Mackinlay and also under the pseudonym Brenda Grey. Some of her novels are based on real people like Madame Vestris, Lola Montez or Jane Elizabeth Digby; she also wrote Musical Productions, a musical book. She was the daughter of the musician and writer Malcolm Sterling Mackinlay and granddaughter of the vocalist Antoinette Sterling.

She was the seventh elected Chairman (1973–1975) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Biography

Born Leila Antionette Sterling Mackinlay on 5 September 1910 in London, England, UK, she was the daughter of the musician and writer Malcolm Sterling Mackinlay, also known only as Sterling Mackinlay (1876–1952), and granddaughter of the popular vocalist Antoinette Sterling (1850–1904). She attended Camden School before obtained a diploma in English Literature at London University in 1950. She also was trained as a singer and actress. She worked as teacher of Ordinary Level English Literature.