Mollie Panter-Downes
Mary Patricia "Mollie" Panter-Downes was a British novelist and columnist for The New Yorker. Aged sixteen, she wrote The Shoreless Sea which became a bestseller and was serialised in The Daily Mirror. Her second novel The Chase was published in 1925.
Early life and education
Panter-Downes was born to Major Edward Martin Panter-Downes and Marie Kathleen Cowley, who was of Irish origin. She lived with her mother in Brighton and then a Sussex village without much money.Career
In 1922, aged sixteen, Panter-Downes wrote The Shoreless Sea which became a bestseller; eight editions were published in 1923 and 1924, and the book was serialised in The Daily Mirror. Her second novel The Chase was published in 1925.In 1938, Panter-Downes began writing for The New Yorker, first a series of short stories, and from September 1939, a column entitled Letter from London, which she wrote until 1984. The collected columns were later published as Letters from England and London War Notes.
Panter-Downes visited Ootacamund, in India, and wrote about the town, known to all as Ooty, in her New Yorker columns. This material was later published as Ooty Preserved.
Death
Panter-Downes married Aubrey Clare Robinson in 1927 and the couple moved to Surrey.She died in Compton, Surrey, aged 90.
Publications
Selected works
- The Shoreless Sea
- The Chase
- Storm Bird
- My Husband Simon
- One Fine Day
- Minnie's Room
- Good Evening, Mrs Craven
- Ooty Preserved: A Victorian Hill Station in India
- ''At The Pines''
Republished by Persephone Books
- London War Notes Republished in 2014 by Persephone Books
- Minnie's Room Republished in 2002 by Persephone Books
- Good Evening, Mrs Craven Republished in 1999 by Persephone Books