'I finished the book in one sitting, leaving the children unbathed, dogs unwalked, a husband unfed, and giving alternate cries of joy and recognition throughout' - Jully Cooper 'I reread, for the nth time, E. M. Delafield's dry, caustic Diary of a Provincial Lady, and howled with laughter' - India Knight 'Glorious, simply glorious' - Daily Telegraph 'She converts the small and familiar dullness of life into laughter'

This is a lovely amusing and light hearted book, which I think can best be described as Hyacinth Bucket meets Bridget Jones.

The narrator (the provincial lady of the title) takes us through a year in her life in diary form. Set probably in the 1930s - although this is never specified - and somewhere in or around Plymouth, our un-named narrator struggles to hold together a seemingly indifferent husband, two young children, a chaotic staff and ever growing financial worries. Trying to always anticipate and stay one step ahead of her problems causes her to find herself in many sticky situations!

Although the social situations described are very much of their time, the interactions between various characters reminded me of present day relationships, and as the reader is permitted access to the narrator's innermost thoughts - which of course, nobody else in her life is permitted - I often found myself nodding along and smiling in recognition. There were also a number of laugh-out-loud moments.

The writing reminded me very much of that of Helen Fielding in Bridget Jones' Diary, and as this book pre-dates that one by several decades, I can't help but wonder if Fielding was influenced by this.

Overall, this was a hugely enjoyable book, and I will definitely be buying the two sequels. ( )

This book is a delightful light read. The heroine chronicles daily events and inner thoughts in a quite witty diary. Daily life in "the provinces," i.e.; well outside London, revolves around relationships with her husband, her children, the servants, and fellow villagers. She pokes fun at all of this, while simultaneously revealing her own feelings of inadequacy as wife, parent, employer, friend, or woman of intellect. Several humorous situations are followed through the diary: an attempt to grow garden bulbs, an adopted stray cat who has kittens, vain attempts to stay one step ahead of a bank overdraft, the eccentric behavior of certain villagers, and her husband's general reticence. All are described in a wonderful style, such as this comment about the husband: Very marked difference between the sexes is male tendency to procrastinate doing practically everything in the world except sitting down to meals and going up to bed. Should like to purchase little painted motto: 'Do it now', so often on sale at inferior stationers' shops, and present it to Robert, but on second thoughts qutie see that this would not conduce to domestic harmony, and abandon scheme at once. (p. 156)

The "provincial lady" 'is so engaging, and so easy to identify with, and yet is never given a name. Perhaps this is because she is "everywoman"? In any case, this fun little book had me smiling and laughing to myself from page 1 to the end. Delightful. ( )

Absolutely fantastic book - I laughed so much all the way through it was fabulous. I love E.M Delafield's sense of humour and our heroine is such a real person it made it all so believable. Please read it, it will have you giggling for sure ! ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/d... ( )