Tag Archive: Boulton and Park

Mar 26

An everyday story of Victorian cross-dressers by Tim Stanley, The Telegraph

Dr Tim Stanley wrote an article about Fanny & Stella recently in The Telegraph On April 28, 1870, two young gentlemen turned up to the Strand Theatre, London in evening frocks. Ernest Boulton went by the name of Stella and Frederick Park liked to be called Fanny. The behaviour in their box was outlandish and outrageous, …

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Jan 16

‘..a gripping and startling account of the arrest and prosecution of two Victorian drag queens’

I was recently interviewed by New Books in Biography about Fanny & Stella. You can read part of the review below or listen to me being interviewed here ‘Through meticulous research and lush, incisive prose, McKenna presents a gripping and startling account of the arrest and prosecution of two Victorian drag queens. It’s a deft performance that …

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Jul 10

A Fanny & Stella Review by Xandra

I have just come across another review of my book, Fanny & Stella, by the blogger Xandra ‘A fantastic read, well researched, superbly written and a work which keeps the reader riveted, as well as laughing one moment and weeping the next.’ You can read the full review here

Jul 08

Fanny and Stella to be honoured with historic plaque on King’s Cross church

A Plaque commemorating the cross-dressers is to be put up on the wall of a United Reformed Church in King’s Cross, London soon.  Tom Foot from the CamdenNewJournal has the story.  I am looking forward to the unveiling. ‘A PLAQUE commemorating a celebrated Victorian cross-dressing double act is to be bolted onto the national headquarters of …

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Mar 07

How crossdresser was accepted in Victorian Edinburgh – A review of Fanny & Stella in The Scotsman

  The following review was published in The Scotsman on Wednesday 6 March 2013 WITH petticoats swishing the ground, blonde tresses artfully curled beneath a bonnet and a small bustle giving the fashionable figure of the day, Stella Boulton’s appearance on Princes Street turned heads. But not all the gasps and curious stares were perhaps for …

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