The Diary of a Provincial Lady

Product Information

The Diary of a Provincial Lady is a brilliantly observed comic novel, as funny and fresh today as when it was first written. Robert says, Why don’t I get into Bed? I say, Because I am writing my Diary. Robert replies, kindly, but quite definitely, that In his opinion, That is Waste of Time.

Challenge to Clarissa (1931) - Clarissa Fitzmaurice, a rich harridan, bullies the life out of her husband, his daughter Sophie, and her son by her first marriage, Lucien. But eventually Lucien and Sophie defy Clarissa and marry. She also includes a lady novelist Olivia who has shared her home for many years with her friend Elinor, and whose friendship had weathered, "as Miss Fish resentfully observed, the fuss about The Well of Loneliness." (See Boston marriage.) Query: Is it possible to cultivate the art of conversation when living in the country all the year round?)" Am asked what I think of Harriet Hume but am unable to say, as I have not read it. Have a depressed feeling that this is going to be another case of Orlando about which was perfectly able to talk most intelligently until I read it, and found myself unfortunately unable to understand any of it. Is not a common hate one of the strongest links in human nature? Answer, most regrettably, in the affirmative. It is very funny. The way she describes the torrent of gossip that always seems to pour from the mouth of Our Vicar’s wife not gives a great sense of the speaker and her sense of being possessor of all truths, but also paints a picture of the small community they exist in. Particularly funny too is the way the cooks and maids hold their employers in thrall. Good help being so hard to find it seems post WWI.Ms Delafield wrote a further two books in this series. I won't be reading them, but I don't rule out trying some of her other works. The Diary of a Provincial Lady inspired several sequels: The Provincial Lady Goes Further, The Provincial Lady in America and The Provincial Lady in Wartime which were similarly autobiographical. I read the Penguin Modern Classics edition of The Diary of a Provincial Lady which contains these three sequels. I have not read them yet, although I am now inspired to read them. This review is just about The Diary of a Provincial Lady. I read this over the course of January and it brought me much joy and laughter and always managed to cheer me up when the books I was reading alongside disappointed. This was a delightful introduction to E. M. Delafield’s work and I’m keen to explore further.

In 1931 the New York Herald Tribune called the Diary ‘a delicious book, a triumph of art and wit: EM Delafield is writing of a group and setting peculiarly English. What she has done is to extract from them the universals, the pure essence of comedy. She arouses the emotion of recognition in any one who has ever risen from hard-earned repose morning after morning to face the terrible trifles of the day.’ The (London) Times made the same point when it said that ‘she had an almost uncanny gift for converting the small and familiar dullnesses of everyday life into laughter’. India Knight once said that she ‘re-read for the nth time E M Delaifled’s dry, caustic Diary of a Provincial Lady and howled with laughter’. And Jilly Cooper wrote perceptively in the Guardian: ‘Gradually one realises that, despite the short sentences and the simplicity and unpretentiousness of the prose and subject matter, here is a very subtle and deliberate talent at work, naturally satirical, with a marvellous ear for dialogue and an unerringly accurate social sense.’ Zella Sees Herself (1915) - her first work, written in Exeter. "curiously savage, self obsessed, alarming" [3] or "quite delightful, full of brilliant touches, serious, sad and funny at the same time". [4] March 12th. —Resign from Book of the Month, owing to wide and ever-increasing divergence of opinion between us as to merits or demerits of recently published fiction. Write them long and eloquent letter about this, but remember after it is posted that I still owe them twelve shillings and sixpence for Maurois's Byron." All in all it was an easy, fun read....dated, but in a sweetly nostalgic way. Full of humour about family and village life.

Diary of a Provincial Lady is a classic of its time, revealing the thoughts and concerns of a Lady embedded in family life and the mores of comfortable country life. She has a husband 'raised to the peerage', two children and servants; she is burdened by the superior Lady Boxe, the tiresome vicar's wife and the constant temptation to live beyond her monthly household allowance. But she soldiers on, recording her days with acute observation, wit, self-deprecation and colour.

The topic of money is a little confusing as the narrator is always being called on by the bank to reduce her overdraft, but at the same time she has enough money to have a nanny, parlor maid and a cook. When she is invited to spend some time in the South of France with a friend she is able to pay her way even if she doesn’t travel first class. So, in summary, a fitting read for the #1930Club, best consumed in small doses to avoid any risk of fatigue. It’s the sort of book you can dip in and out of every now and again when the mood takes you without having to worry about the intricacies of narrative plot. My favourite character in this book was Mademoiselle, the children’s French governess. She tends to speak in French, which, I suppose, E.M. Delafield’s target audience would all have read without difficulty. Mademoiselle is long-suffering par excellence and has a wonderfully enigmatic mode of expression verging on the 'prophet of doom' variety. The one way in which I hope real life deviated from her novel was in the state of her finances. In the book they were horrendous; she was always taking things to be pawned, or rescuing things from the pawnbrokers at the last moment. Her perilous financial situation was exacerbated by her love of new clothes and other luxuries. Another big negative in the book was her husband, who came across as grumpy and monosyllabic. She however appeared to be wholly unperturbed by his reticence. (This seemingly had more to do with the parched expectations of women at the time, and less to do with any positive attributes he may have secretly harboured.)

Note: The workings of the infant mind very, very difficult to follow, sometimes. Mothers by no means infallible.)" Diary of a Provincial Lady succeeds by saying all the things you would never say out loud but often secretly think. The writer highlights the follies of provincial society through terse and acerbic commentary, all while cheerfully tearing her neighbors and acquaintances to shreds. And I have to say, it often comes across as quite funny and relatable, even today. My favorite scenes involved introductions--with all the social awkwardness of trying to remember names and claim acquaintance or disclaim the acquaintance as the case may be. May 13th. — Regrettable but undeniable ray of amusement lightens general murk on hearing report that Cousin Maud Blekinsop possesses a baby Austin, and has been running it all around the parish with old Mrs. B., shawls and all, beside her. Cousin Maude, adds Robert thoughtfully, is not his idea of a good driver. He says no more, but I at once have dramatic visions of Mrs. B. flying over the nearest hedge, shawls waving in every direction, while Cousin Maud and the baby Austin charge a steamroller in a narrow lane. Am sorry to record that this leads to hearty laughter on my part, after which I feel better than for weeks past." I feel sure that all women who read this book in America will often pause as I did with a nod and smile, perhaps a rueful smile, of agreement.”

February 28th—Notice, and am gratified by, appearance of a large lump of crocuses near the front gate. Should like to make whimsical and charming reference to these, and try to fancy myself as “Elizabeth of the German Garden”, but am interrupted by Cook….” (I like a number of Elizabeth von Arnim’s novels…) This book was very much based on the real life of its author. She had the right credentials for writing this story. As a teenager she was a debutante, then she married a colonel and had two children. She was also made president of her local Women’s Institute, and held this position for life. (This organisation is the ultimate custodian of country life in the UK.) On top of this she obviously had a great understanding of people, and a wonderfully dry sense of humour. Is not the inferiority complex, about which so much is written and spoken, nowadays shifting from the child to the parent? The household was a joy to watch. There was a taciturn husband, usually to be found behind a newspaper. There was a son away at school, and a daughter being educated at home by a French governess, who was sometimes highly capable and sometimes terribly sensitive. There was a cook who had to be carefully managed, and there was usually a parlour maid, though good parlour maids were dreadfully difficult to find and even harder to keep.The latter Delafield is the one guyed in Provincial Lady, but it needed the satirical eye of her other self to do the guying and to chronicle so exactly the follies and idiosyncrasies of an entire neighbourhood. The success of the books lies in the fact that both sides of her character were stretched to the full. After this, there is a pause, and I feel that Mrs. B. is waiting for me to pour out my little joys and troubles. Perhaps she hopes that Robert has been unfaithful to me, or that I have fallen in love with the Vicar."