Faster! Faster!

by E.M. Delafield

'Faster! Faster!' is a novel that tells of the mid-life crisis of Claudia Winsloe, who finds herself trapped by the dual responsibilities of her career and her family. The harder she pushes herself the more she becomes out of touch and increasingly isolated.

Genres: British Literature, Classics, Fiction

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (9 June 1890 – 2 December 1943), commonly known as E. M. Delafield, was a prolific English author who is best-known for her largely autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady, which took the form of a journal of the life of an upper-middle class Englishwoman living mostly in a Devon village of the 1930s, and its sequels in which the Provincial Lady buys a flat in London and travels to America. Other sequels of note are her experiences looking for war-work during the Phoney War in 1939, and her experiences as a tourist in the Soviet Union.

Daughter of the novelist Mrs. Henry De La Pasture.

Reviews

[Gareth Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

In some respects it is perhaps a little odd to give 5 stars to an unremarkable and largely forgotten novel. Not to do so would be to underestimate the skill and craft that has gone into this post-Great War melodrama. The way in which the focus of the narrative shifts from character to character never losing the focus on the key protagonist is especially clever. This is a subtle and entertaining novel which has been executed with great skill.

[Pru Sly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read "The Diary of a Provincial Lady" more than 50 times since I was a teenager, I recently decided to explore more of E.M. Delafield's work.

Whilst not exactly disappointed in the two of her books I have since read (this being one of them), I can't avoid thinking how out of character "The Diary of a Provincial Lady" seems to have been.

This book however deals primarily with self-delusion in a fairly extreme form. The main character is utterly unaware of the effect of her constant perceived impartiality and self-reflection on those around her and that she is, in fact, that which she detests in others: the ultimate controlling parent, sibling, friend and spouse.

Having said that, there are moments when, rather than intensely disliking her, the reader feels sympathy and warmth towards someone who is always attempting to act within a strict moral code and can show a real sense of humour.

I rattled through this book and did enjoy it, but it was clear how it would all end some time before the end of the book and wasn't exactly a cheery read.

Interesting as well, that even in the 1920s, a book was written with a central theme of a woman trying to "have it all" - and here we are in 2013 thinking of it as such a modern problem!

[Augustine Onyechi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everybody who’s read Delafield would almost always recommend one of her popular books: Diary of a Provincial Lady. I decided to give it a shot, but soon abandoned it to read Faster, Faster, which is more my speed. I loved reading this book because, for some vague reasons, I felt emotionally invested in it. I loved the omniscient third-person narrative, which gave more insight to the minds and motives of the characters, something I like and require to make judgments about characters. I was rooting for the main character, Claudia, while, all the time, realizing how broken (and in a need of “saving”) she was.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one in hard cover (I think 1st Amer ed) after reading several other Delafield works when I was on a kick. I read it some years ago, so I'm not real clear on specific details any more, except for the disastrous event that forms the pivot in the middle of the book. It's kind of a cautionary tale about speeding through life too quickly to relax and smell the flowers... and about how someone else might have to pick up the pieces after you.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating document -- really damning portrait of a woman who not only does it all for her family (sole breadwinner, caring parent, patient spouse) but has the gall to be proud of her achievements. She certainly gets her comeuppance in the end. Really makes me wonder what E. M. Delafield would have written if she'd been around today.

[Suzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Infuriating Claudia finally realises her faults but at the wrong time. It took me a little while to see into the characters and their ways of thinking, why they behaved as they did but it becomes all too clear in time. I wanted to go in give them all a shake so the book obviously got me hooked.

The times and lives of people living at this time with several backgrounds and earnings was shown with clarity which made it really interesting, how they spent their money and why, even down to the types of furniture they had.