A review by ergative
The Provincial Lady in Wartime by E.M. Delafield

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This was a very interesting text, not least because it simultaneously is accurate and contemporary--the comments about the fashion of gas-mask carrying cases, the perpetual attempts to get war work but the oversupply of volunteers because the war has not really started yet, the perpetual conversations about what people think is going to happen--and also, because it was written right at the start of the war, is genuinely innocent and ignorant of how deadful things were going to get. The Provincial Lady is no fool, and it's wonderful to see how she can observe how clueless everyone is in light of what she knows can't be anything good coming, and yet she still makes friends and delights in human folly and entertainment and finds joy in life. I think, in a way, that I'm glad that this last provincial lady book ends before WWII really got going. Her son would definitely have been called up, given that he's already 18 in 1939, and I have trouble imagining her retaining her joie de vivre when things got really dark.