The Provincial Lady Goes Further

E.M. Delafield (pen name of Elizabeth Dashwood) does not get the credit she is due. And I include myself in this criticism. It wasn’t until this sequel to
Diary of a Provincial Lady that I realized it. So many women writers — ranging from D.E. Stevenson (in her Mrs Tim Of The Regiment and its sequels) to Erma Bombeck to Jean Kerr to Jen Mann and many, many, many more — owe Delafield a debt of gratitude for introducing the humorous mother slyly chronicling her daily life. Why, every other blog on the Internet is a variation of that theme!

In this second book, Delafield’s narrator gets bamboozled into taking a flat in London (ergo, the alternative title of The Provincial Lady in London), and hilarity ensues. Lady B. remains as show more insufferable as ever; friends Rose, Emma and Felicity also return, and the children remain as incorrigible as ever. In short, I loved every single word! Highly recommended.

Oh, and I nearly forgot! I did not commend Arthur Watts’ prescient drawings (original to the novel) in the first book, but I will here. They’re a wonderful addition. show less

Ugh. I was hoping for another Mrs. Miniver; not. The Provincial Lady is a fluff-head who spends a great deal of her time thinking about clothes and makeup - hers and everyone else's (and everyone else's is always better than hers - inferiority complex much?). The rest of the time she's trying (and mostly failing) to deal with her children, worrying about money, and very rarely and reluctantly doing any writing. The whole thing is presented exactly like a diary - shorthand references, incomplete sentences, and a good deal of "I thought, but of course I didn't say...". The worrying about money, in particular, strikes me rather like that child's essay: "The whole family was poor. The maid was poor, the butler was poor...". While I was show more reading, I kept thinking that this would be an utter treasure trove for a historian looking for data on that period (1930s England, I believe) - every petty detail is carefully preserved. Now I admit that Mrs. Miniver could have been written out of such a diary, but MM is selected vignettes in lyrical language; the Provincial Lady is the whole compost pile from which such gems could have been plucked. Bleah. I'm tempted to find the first one, to see if it was any better; and I have Russia, and want to see if it it continued or got worse. But I'm definitely not rereading. Not for me, thanks. show less

I have been interested in this book since I first saw it listed in the book catalogue, A Common Reader, a bookseller-by-post institution that I very much miss. Sometimes it was as good as reading an actual book. Anyhow, I was lucky enough to find this copy at a Friends of the Library book sale on the day that you buy books at the rate of a dollar a bag-full. We left with three bags full. Which reminds me of a rhyme. As mentioned in my review of Bridget Jones's Diary, I began reading this one after mentally throwing Bridget Jones across the room with hearty disgust. What dreck!

As a point of interest, maybe only to me, later when I was googling E. M. Delafield, I found a review of Bridget Jones in which the reviewer states that Helen show more Fielding is Delafeild's literary successor, a statement that could only be perpetrated by someone who has not read the Provincial Lady books, but instead only knows that the story is told in a diary format. You see, Delafield's lady is actually funny. And insightful. Bridget is a thumping bore. Of course the Bridget's plot is a good one, but, huh-hmmmm, it would be since it is the plot of a book that has routinely appeared in the top ten greatest novels lists.

Since this is actually a review for Delafield's book I suppose I should actually review it and stop my ranting about "that one."

The Provincial Lady if not exactly a scream is but certainly is a lot of fun to spend a weekend with. Her insights into the literary world of the 1930s are wry. With nary a harsh word she exposes all manner of pretensions. In this outing, our heroine is, in her opinion, less than glowing in the limelight of her recent literary success. She never seems to have the right thing to wear. Okay, I know how that feels. She becomes reacquainted with an acquaintance from years ago. The acquaintance makes out a more friendlier relationship than actually existed. Said auld acquaintance has since had a tawdry romantic history, and leans a bit heavily on our heroine. Okay, currently similarly enmeshed. She is getting all sorts of advice about where and whether or not she should send young daughter Vicky off to prep school. Vicky, a bit of a pill in not especially awful ways, wants to go. Currently, my parents are insisting that I am not doing my duty if I do not ship elf and twig off to name brand prep schools in the next few years and are wondering how the application processes are going. Hmmm...Then there is the servant problem. Our provincial lady just can't bring herself to recommend changes in the servants plans, menus, work. I used to clean before the maid came so she wouldn't think badly of me.

This is all to say that I think The Provincial Lady and I could be good friends. So, I think I will seek out the other books. I just wished I could remember her name. But, that's okay, she has troubles with names too show less

Loved it! Had me chuckling and laughing out loud. She is witty and flawed and adorably endearing. Most modern day moms would love this book.

The provincial lady goes further, also published as The provincial lady in London describes the further exploits of "the provincial lady". As in the first volume, the mock diary consists of the same banter as in the first volume in the series, Diary of a provincial lady. This second volume describes how the provincial lady enters the literary establishment in London. As a new, published author, she is invited to literary lunches and parties, where she meets various pretentious authors and would-be-authors. Apart from social calls, the diary lists the author's daily musings and reading, children and still grumpy husband.

Life for a gentlewoman in 1930s England, told in a highly amusing diary-style. What's really wonderful about this book are the many details of every-day life.

This book is almost as good as the first in the series. It;s so witty and self deprecating. I just received the third book and I will begin it ASAP.