Aunt Abbie

My fiction is arranged alphabetically by author, like many bookshops. Between Raymond Chandler and GK Chesterton are two slim volumes by Dane Chandos. Have you read him or even heard of him?

First, Dane Chandos is the nom de plume of two authors, Peter Lilley and Nigel Millett. Lilley’s nickname at Stowe was Dane and his House was Chandos; so Dane Chandos was born. The books are about Dane’s fictional Aunt Abbie. She has a  similarity to Graham Greene’s Aunt Augusta (Travels with My Aunt), a passing resemblance to Lady Trumpington and more than a passing resemblance to Lady Diana Cooper and her alter ego, Mrs Stitch but has little in common with PG Wodehouse’s pantheon of aunts. The first book, Abbie, was published in 1947 and it took until 1961 for its successor, Abbie and Arthur to come out. They are published by Michael Joseph which brings on an attack of nostalgia. The eponymous MJ was first married to Hermione Gingold but it was his third wife I remember, Anthea Joseph, who was herself an aunt to friends of mine. After MJ died in 1958 she ran the house until her death in 1981. Four years later MJ was sold to Penguin and now is an imprint of Random House. I imagine the Abbie books were a nice little earner in their day and now are ripe for reprinting by Slightly Foxed if there are no copyright issues.

I’m looking forward to re-reading them and, if they appeal to you, they are available from Abe Books for less than a fiver leading us into a special rendition of Big Spender.

https://youtu.be/fjRwo1ld_-U