Alice Mangold Diehl

Alice Diehl (25 February 1844 – 13 June 1912) was an English musician and novelist. She changed in 1872 from being a concert pianist into being a writer – of music reviews, some 50 novels and several other books.

Family and career Alice Diehl was born Alice Georgina Mangold in Aveley, Essex, at the house of her maternal grandfather, Charles Vidal, a village doctor born in Jamaica, who had practised in Aveley since 1804. She was the second child of her parents, Carl Mangold and Eliza, née Vidal, who lived mainly in London, where Carl taught music.

Alice Diehl first performed publicly on the piano in Paris in 1861. In 1863 she married the violinist and song composer Louis Diehle (c. 1837–1910), by whom she had six children. Her playing was praised by Berlioz and she continued to perform in London until 1872. For The Story of Philosophy (1881) she used the pseudonym Aston Leigh.

Death Alice Diehl died on 13 June 1912. Shortly before her death she is known to have been living in Ingatestone, Essex. A Thurrock Heritage plaque to Alice Diehl was unveiled on 23 January 2010 at the Aveley Christian Centre, Stifford Road. This was formerly the school opposite the house in Park Lane where she was born.