konniesbb's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
I enjoyed The Provincial Lady Goes Further just as much as the first book. In this one, the Provincial Lady delves deeper into the literary world and we meet new characters, including new friend Pamela Pringle who puts the Provincial Lady into many unprecedented social situations. Enjoyed reading more about the family as well, with Robert growing on me slightly in this book. As ever, the book stands the test of time and E.M. Delafield's observations on social etiquette, personal finances and family life are apt and applicable to modern life. Laugh-out-loud funny and an excellent read.
crazygoangirl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Read this compilation of all 5 Provincial Lady novels by E. M. Delafield as an ebook on Storytel, but I prefer my Kindle app for online reading - I’m used to it and find it more user-friendly.
The first book and probably the most famous of her works, The Diary of a Provincial Lady was a hoot! It had me chuckling often and on many occasions laughing out loud! The Lady in question has exactly my sense of humour - wry, sarcastic and self-deprecating 😌 Through her short, succinct, often tongue-in-cheek entries, we are treated to a slice of life in an English country village replete with the usual suspects - the vicar and his wife; Lady B - rich, snooty, self-proclaimed benefactress and consequently the bane of our Lady’s life; Mrs. B and Barbara - the long suffering mother and daughter duo, until Barbara is rescued by C. C through marriage and Mrs. B is left at Cousin Maud’s mercy 😀 In addition we have the Lady’s own family - Robin and Vicky her children and Roger her insufferable husband! I waited for him to redeem himself throughout the narrative or at least to develop the tiniest sense of humour - both of which tests he failed miserably😅 We also have a few friends - Rose, graceful, kind and living the good life - everything our Lady aspires to be while Cissie is awkward & troublesome. I loved the original illustrations by Arthur Watts and missed them in the later books.
While the first book introduces us to the cast of characters and daily life in an English village, the second and third books take our Lady out of her Devon village and into London and America! In The Provincial Lady Goes Further, she acquires a tiny flat in London and has misadventures there too! Although she’s managed to gain some little fame as an author she still struggles with her finances, her disastrous fashion sense or total lack thereof, her lovingly chaotic children, a taciturn husband, a high-strung though loyal French nanny, the infuriating Lady B and Cook - who reduces her to a stuttering wreck ever time😄😄😄 I laughed just as much, if not more than I did in the first book. Delafield has a way of stating the obvious with humour and irony and I lapped it up!
In the third novel, our Lady is in the States on a book tour and her descriptions of her sea voyage and the whirlwind book tour along with a million social and work-related engagements are once again hilariously accurate 😄 She vacillates between pride, joy, self-doubt and intense homesickness and I love how she documents her tendency to imagine disastrous fictional consequences of perfectly mundane events!
The Provincial lady in Russia is probably my least favourite of all the novels, because it’s dark and depressing and Delafield showcases the problems with Communism and her frustration with them. It’s also the only book not written in a diary format but in three short essays of her time in Moscow, Leningrad and Odessa. A lot of well directed sarcasm in this one.
In the last of the novels, published in 1940, Delafield takes us back to the village, on the cusp of WWII, when England has finally declared war on Germany. Our Lady moves to London to offer her services in the war effort and finds much to her dismay, that wanting to help and actually being able to help are two entirely different things altogether! Enjoyed her usual bumbling about in London as she and her little group of friends try their best to contribute to the war effort by mostly “Standing By”! Robert has grown on me through the series. I like a man of few words who isn’t always demonstrative but nevertheless loves his family deeply. I’ve been married to one such for 30+ years 😊 I wish there were illustrations in this one.
This compilation of novels is my first introduction to E. M. Delafield and I enjoyed her writing style, humour and characterisations. I’ve realised that I very much enjoy the wartime diary format that focuses on the routine life of average citizens and is told with large dollops of humour! The Diary of a Nobody & Henrietta’s War (there’s a very different Lady B in that one!), are two others which immediately spring to mind. I just finished Sally on the Rocks, set in an English village during WWI. It is also excellently written although there’s much more sadness and desperation, giving the setting.
This one set in the inter-war years, naturally has a lighter feel to it, although it’s by no means frivolous and tackles important themes, just in a more subtle manner. I love the Queries that the author includes in some entries - questions that are linked to current events in our Lady’s life or random thoughts in her mind; questions that make one think and that are relevant even in the 21st century. How little humanity has changed over time!
Some of my favourite Queries:
1. Cannot many of our moral lapses from Truth be frequently charged upon the tactless persistence of others?
2. Is not a common hate one of the strongest links in human nature? Answer, most regrettably, in the affirmative.
3. Curious and rather depressing, to see how frequently the pursuit of Good Works leads to apparently unavoidable duplicity.
4. Is not the inferiority complex, about which so much is written and spoken, nowadays shifting from the child to the parent?
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.
Highly recommend this series 👍🏼
The first book and probably the most famous of her works, The Diary of a Provincial Lady was a hoot! It had me chuckling often and on many occasions laughing out loud! The Lady in question has exactly my sense of humour - wry, sarcastic and self-deprecating 😌 Through her short, succinct, often tongue-in-cheek entries, we are treated to a slice of life in an English country village replete with the usual suspects - the vicar and his wife; Lady B - rich, snooty, self-proclaimed benefactress and consequently the bane of our Lady’s life; Mrs. B and Barbara - the long suffering mother and daughter duo, until Barbara is rescued by C. C through marriage and Mrs. B is left at Cousin Maud’s mercy 😀 In addition we have the Lady’s own family - Robin and Vicky her children and Roger her insufferable husband! I waited for him to redeem himself throughout the narrative or at least to develop the tiniest sense of humour - both of which tests he failed miserably😅 We also have a few friends - Rose, graceful, kind and living the good life - everything our Lady aspires to be while Cissie is awkward & troublesome. I loved the original illustrations by Arthur Watts and missed them in the later books.
While the first book introduces us to the cast of characters and daily life in an English village, the second and third books take our Lady out of her Devon village and into London and America! In The Provincial Lady Goes Further, she acquires a tiny flat in London and has misadventures there too! Although she’s managed to gain some little fame as an author she still struggles with her finances, her disastrous fashion sense or total lack thereof, her lovingly chaotic children, a taciturn husband, a high-strung though loyal French nanny, the infuriating Lady B and Cook - who reduces her to a stuttering wreck ever time😄😄😄 I laughed just as much, if not more than I did in the first book. Delafield has a way of stating the obvious with humour and irony and I lapped it up!
In the third novel, our Lady is in the States on a book tour and her descriptions of her sea voyage and the whirlwind book tour along with a million social and work-related engagements are once again hilariously accurate 😄 She vacillates between pride, joy, self-doubt and intense homesickness and I love how she documents her tendency to imagine disastrous fictional consequences of perfectly mundane events!
The Provincial lady in Russia is probably my least favourite of all the novels, because it’s dark and depressing and Delafield showcases the problems with Communism and her frustration with them. It’s also the only book not written in a diary format but in three short essays of her time in Moscow, Leningrad and Odessa. A lot of well directed sarcasm in this one.
In the last of the novels, published in 1940, Delafield takes us back to the village, on the cusp of WWII, when England has finally declared war on Germany. Our Lady moves to London to offer her services in the war effort and finds much to her dismay, that wanting to help and actually being able to help are two entirely different things altogether! Enjoyed her usual bumbling about in London as she and her little group of friends try their best to contribute to the war effort by mostly “Standing By”! Robert has grown on me through the series. I like a man of few words who isn’t always demonstrative but nevertheless loves his family deeply. I’ve been married to one such for 30+ years 😊 I wish there were illustrations in this one.
This compilation of novels is my first introduction to E. M. Delafield and I enjoyed her writing style, humour and characterisations. I’ve realised that I very much enjoy the wartime diary format that focuses on the routine life of average citizens and is told with large dollops of humour! The Diary of a Nobody & Henrietta’s War (there’s a very different Lady B in that one!), are two others which immediately spring to mind. I just finished Sally on the Rocks, set in an English village during WWI. It is also excellently written although there’s much more sadness and desperation, giving the setting.
This one set in the inter-war years, naturally has a lighter feel to it, although it’s by no means frivolous and tackles important themes, just in a more subtle manner. I love the Queries that the author includes in some entries - questions that are linked to current events in our Lady’s life or random thoughts in her mind; questions that make one think and that are relevant even in the 21st century. How little humanity has changed over time!
Some of my favourite Queries:
1. Cannot many of our moral lapses from Truth be frequently charged upon the tactless persistence of others?
2. Is not a common hate one of the strongest links in human nature? Answer, most regrettably, in the affirmative.
3. Curious and rather depressing, to see how frequently the pursuit of Good Works leads to apparently unavoidable duplicity.
4. Is not the inferiority complex, about which so much is written and spoken, nowadays shifting from the child to the parent?
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.
Highly recommend this series 👍🏼
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