The Chavasse Twins

The Chavasse Twins (1963) – Canon Selwyn Gummer
Hodder & Stoughton • ISBN: nobly absent
Condition: Good
Format: Hardback with dust jacket
Proudly offered by: Crappy Old Books

Here it is: The Chavasse Twins, a 1963 hardback curio in which Canon Selwyn Gummer cheerfully proves that vicars can, in fact, write novels—and not just the sort that are slipped to the church bookstall and politely ignored. This is mid-20th-century storytelling at its most reassuringly British: families, feelings, faith, and the kind of mild drama that could cause a parish tea to fall into scandalised silence for at least three seconds.

The titular twins are, naturally, a Problem in the sort of way only 1960s fictional children can be: not feral, exactly, but unsettlingly full of personality. Expect moral quandaries scaled perfectly to fit village life, misunderstandings that blossom into life lessons, and just enough spiritual reflection to remind you that the author is indeed a Canon and not, say, a disillusioned insurance clerk with a typewriter.

Greene gives you tortured adults in Latin America; Gummer gives you twins and the quiet chaos of domestic existence—friendship, family expectations, and the faint whiff of theological subtext if you’re paying attention. This is the kind of book that whispers, “Go on, have another custard cream and read just one more chapter.”

Now, about this specific copy from Crappy Old Books:

• Condition: Good – which, in our blunt and god-fearing grading system, means the book is perfectly readable, mercifully intact, and not held together by prayer alone.

• Hardback – a proper book, with a spine that has done its duty on many a respectable bookshelf, probably next to titles like The Bishop’s Candlestick and Hymns Ancient and Modern.

• Dust Jacket included – yes, you read that correctly. The original dust jacket still clings on like a determined churchwarden. Expect some edge wear, small nicks, perhaps a tiny tear or two, and maybe some gentle fading. Think “respectable parishioner who’s been to a lot of fêtes” rather than “glossy influencer.”

• No ISBN – this is from the wild, lawless days before everything had a number. A simpler time, when books were catalogued by title, author, and the vague memory of “it was blue, I think.”

You may find:

• Pages with that warm, vintage tone that says: “I am older than you and I have seen things.”

• Mild foxing—those faint brown freckles that say the book has lived, not just existed.

• Possibly an inscription in the front: perhaps “To Margaret, with love from Mother, Christmas 1964,” reminding you that someone, somewhere, once thought this book would improve a person’s character.

What you will not find:

• Modern, soulless perfection.

• A plastic-wrapped, untouched relic destined never to be opened.

• Any hint that this book has spent its life posing for Instagram.

Instead, this is a working vintage hardback, fully ready to be read in an armchair, on a train, or guiltily in bed when you promised yourself an early night.

So if you fancy a trip back to a world of earnest storytelling, well-behaved prose, and moral dilemmas scaled to human size, this gently worn Good copy of The Chavasse Twins is standing by.

A small slice of 1963, a hardback with dust jacket, a vicar with a pen, and a pair of troublesome twins—delivered to you, with affection and a straight face, by Crappy Old Books.

Keep browsing: See more Biography books Other books by Canon Selwyn Gummer