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E.M. Delafield (1890–1943)

Author of Diary of a Provincial Lady

97+ Works 3,538 Members 114 Reviews 32 Favorited

About the Author

Disambiguation Notice:

Please note the following distinctions, and try to keep the single-story separate from the omnibus editions which contain several "Provincial Lady" stories.
Single Story:
The Diary of a Provincial Lady (Virago, 1844085228)
Diary of a Provincial Lady (Prion, 1853753688)
The Diary of a Provincial Lady (Remploy, 0706610342)
Diary of a Provincial Lady (Chicago, 0897330536)
Omnibus Edition (contains 4 stories):
The Diary of a Provincial Lady (Virago, 0860685225)
The Provincial Lady (Macmillan, pre-ISBN)

Series

Works by E.M. Delafield

Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930) 1,088 copies
Consequences (1919) 206 copies
The Way Things Are (1927) 187 copies
Thank Heaven Fasting (1932) 178 copies
The War-Workers (1918) 46 copies
Tension (1920) 43 copies
Late and Soon (1943) 37 copies
Faster! Faster! (1936) 24 copies
No One Now Will Know (1941) 21 copies
Messalina of the Suburbs (1920) 19 copies
The Optimist (2009) 16 copies
Gay Life (1933) 16 copies
Nothing Is Safe (1937) 16 copies
The Heel of Achilles (1921) 15 copies
Humbug (1922) 15 copies
Challenge To Clarissa (1931) 11 copies
Turn Back the Leaves (1930) 10 copies
First Love (1928) 10 copies
Mrs. Harter (1924) 10 copies
Zella Sees Herself (2012) 9 copies
Jill (1926) 8 copies
Women Are Like That (1929) 7 copies
The chip and the block, (1925) 7 copies
Three Marriages (1939) 6 copies
General Impressions (1933) 6 copies
The Pelicans (1918) 5 copies
When Women Love (1938) 5 copies
The Suburban Young Man (1928) 4 copies
The Entertainment (1927) 3 copies
To See Ourselves (1932) 2 copies
Famous plays of 1931 (1931) 2 copies
The Waiting Lady [short story] — Author — 1 copy
Incidental [short story] — Author — 1 copy
The Tortoise [short story] — Author — 1 copy
Reflex Action [short story] — Author — 1 copy
Holiday Group [short story] — Author — 1 copy
Reparation [short story] — Author — 1 copy
Terminus [short story] — Author — 1 copy
O Tempora! O Mores! [short story] — Author — 1 copy
O.K. for Story [short work] — Author — 1 copy
The Other Poor Chap [short work] — Author — 1 copy
The Reason [short work] — Author — 1 copy
Opportunity [short work] — Author — 1 copy
The Philistine [short story] — Author — 1 copy

Associated Works

The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 544 copies
The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (2000) — Contributor — 288 copies
The Persephone Book of Short Stories (2012) — Contributor — 116 copies
The Mammoth Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1998) — Contributor — 73 copies
The British Character (1938) — Introduction, some editions — 63 copies
The Fairies Return: Or, New Tales for Old (1934) — Contributor — 47 copies
The Third Omnibus of Crime (1935) — Contributor — 44 copies
A Century of Humour (1934) — Contributor — 42 copies
The Oxford Book of Historical Stories (1994) — Contributor — 40 copies
Charlotte Mary Yonge: The Story of an Uneventful Life (1943) — Introduction, some editions — 10 copies
Little Innocents: Childhood Reminiscences (1932) — Contributor — 8 copies
Great Unsolved Crimes (1975) — Contributor — 4 copies
Missing From Their Homes — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1930s (62) 20th century (120) anthology (153) biography (46) British (124) British fiction (40) British literature (53) classics (28) diary (221) ebook (75) England (111) English (44) English fiction (28) English literature (32) fiction (732) Folio Society (27) ghost stories (30) ghosts (37) historical fiction (26) history (27) horror (67) humor (278) journal (29) Kindle (40) literature (25) memoir (51) non-fiction (60) novel (71) own (30) Persephone (72) read (79) short stories (114) to-read (267) UK (24) unread (35) Virago (119) Virago Modern Classics (80) VMC (34) women (36) WWII (42)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Dashwood, Edmee Elizabeth Monica
Other names
de la Pasture, Edmee Elizabeth Monica (birth name)
Birthdate
1890-06-09
Date of death
1943-12-02
Burial location
Kentisbeare churchyard, Devon, England, UK
Gender
female
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Steyning, Sussex, England, UK
Place of death
England, UK
Places of residence
Kentisbeare, Devon, England, UK
Malay States
Llandogo, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
Occupations
novelist
short story writer
book reviewer
Relationships
de la Pasture, Elizabeth Lydia Rosabelle (mother)
Dashwood, R. M. (daughter)
Clifford, Hugh (stepfather)
Organizations
Voluntary Aid Detachment
Time and Tide
Women's Institute
Short biography
E.M. Delafield was the pen name of Edmee Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture, born in Steyning, Sussex, England, the daughter of well-known novelist Elizabeth Bonham and her husband Count Henry Philip Ducarel de la Pasture. Delafield was educated by French governesses and attended several boarding schools, followed by nine months as a postulant nun in a convent in Belgium. She worked with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during World War I, and these experiences formed the basis of her first novel, Zella Sees Herself, published in 1917. She continued to publish one or two novels every year until her death. She is best known for the bestselling series The Diary of a Provincial Lady and its sequels. She also was an important contributor of book reviews, sketches, and short stories to Time and Tide magazine. In 1919, she married Colonel Arthur Paul Dashwood, an engineer, and they spent two years living in the Malay States before returning to live in an old house in Kentisbeare, Devonshire. The couple had two children, and Delafield served as president of the Kentisbeare Women's Institute for the the rest of her life. Her daughter Rosamund Dashwood published Provincial Daughter, a continuation of Delafield's popular series of books, in 1961.
Disambiguation notice
Please note the following distinctions, and try to keep the single-story separate from the omnibus editions which contain several "Provincial Lady" stories.
Single Story:
The Diary of a Provincial Lady (Virago, 1844085228)
Diary of a Provincial Lady (Prion, 1853753688)
The Diary of a Provincial Lady (Remploy, 0706610342)
Diary of a Provincial Lady (Chicago, 0897330536)
Omnibus Edition (contains 4 stories):
The Diary of a Provincial Lady (Virago, 0860685225)
The Provincial Lady (Macmillan, pre-ISBN)

Members

Reviews

2nd in the Provincial Lady Series
 
Flagged
JimandMary69 | 9 other reviews | Aug 18, 2023 |
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but over 90 years ago!
 
Flagged
booksinbed | 37 other reviews | Jul 25, 2023 |
4.5★ I loved this -- in part because I like almost all the English satires of the period between the 2 World Wars. But this thinly disguised memoir wouldn't be the classic it is if it didn't contain commentary & queries about situations women face in other times & places. While problems with servants, lack of money (relatively speaking!), and the Women's Institute are not universal, who hasn't had the experience of someone saying something unpleasant, then "Think of several rather tart and witty rejoinders to this, but unfortunately not until Lady B.'s Bentley has taken her away."

One question which occurred frequently was about why societal conventions & common politeness require adults to lie so often: "Lady Boxe calls. I say, untruthfully, how nice to see her..."; in reply to an old school friend asking to stay for a few nights: "Reply that we shall be delighted to see her, and what a lot we shall have to talk about, after all these years! (This, I find on reflection, is not true, but cannot re-write letter on that account)."; The Vicar's wife has had a picture postcard from her (which she produces from bag), with small cross marking bedroom window of hotel. She says, It's rather interesting, isn't it? to which I reply Yes, it is, which is not in the least true."

This juxtaposition of the conventional polite behavior and the true thoughts of the author is the source of much of the humor.
… (more)
 
Flagged
leslie.98 | 17 other reviews | Jun 27, 2023 |
I enjoyed reading this book in which the narrator is self-deprecating while dealing with life events that we all must have at some point: expenditures greater than income; unruly children (with occasional showing of good manners); want for fulfillment; poor domestic outcomes; and trying to keep up pretenses when classes are valued. The narrator tries to balance honesty with civility which is very difficult at times. The lens through which this diary is written finds humor even when life isn't what was expected.… (more)
 
Flagged
Kimberlyhi | 37 other reviews | Apr 15, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Nicola Beauman Introduction, Preface, Afterword
Jilly Cooper Introduction
Arthur Watts Illustrator
Patricia Antón Translator
Nicolas Bentley Illustrator
Mary Borden Foreword
Lucy Evans Preface
Simon Thomas Afterword

Statistics

Works
97
Also by
14
Members
3,538
Popularity
#7,175
Rating
4.0
Reviews
114
ISBNs
162
Languages
7
Favorited
32
Touchstones
396

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