Monica Kendall was born in north London. She gained a Master's degree at St Hugh's College, Oxford University in Arabic and went into publishing, sorting through the slush pile at Victor Gollancz in Covent Garden. After a second Master's degree at University College London in Medieval Studies (with distinction) she focused on editing academic books, latterly for Oxford University Press. There were also periods as an actress, as a Hansard reporter in the House of Lords and as an editor of books on archaeology. She has travelled widely, from the hippy trail to Nepal through Afghanistan in the 1970s, to walking the Owain Glynd¿r trail and her son's Snowdonia Way in the 2010s. She climbed Snowdon up the Pyg Track and moved to North Wales, inspired by her great-great-grandfather's hiraeth am Gymru. Her article on her ancestor Rev. Evan Jenkins is in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography. He went to Ystrad Meurig school in Cardiganshire in the early 1800s under John Williams, who was taught by Edward Richard. Richard also taught the scholar and poet Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd) and corresponded with Lewis Morris, whose children were at the school.