The Provincial Lady in London

The Provincial Lady #2

by E.M. Delafield

These highly acclaimed, delightful novels are written in diary form by the Provincial Lady, who lives in a country house with her husband, two children, the children's French governess, Cook and a few assorted helpers. The era of the 1930s is wittily and shrewdly recreated with amusing illustrations. The P.L. finds herself slogging through the mud of a collective farm, coping with Soviet trains and hotels and almost literally rubbing shoulders with robust citizens at a public beach.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, British Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical, Audiobook

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

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

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I got the Diary of a Provincial Lady on my Kindle, I hadn't realized it included the first 4 volumes of her diary. I read through and then realized I had almost read through the second book and was finished with the first. Ha ha! It actually shows how caught up you get in her daily life and how amusing it is.

I know she wrote about her real family and her own life and I am sure she exaggerated for comic effect, but they really are an endearing group, well, the father is very dry, but he's English. This is more of the same, although in this one she has published her first book and so the family has a little bit more money to work with, but her overdrafts at the bank seem to still come with quite a bit of frequency.

In this one, she rents a room in London to have a quiet place to write, but of course, that doesn't seem to happen, as her friends seem to occupy her time most intrepidly.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This, the second book in the Provincial Lady Series, IS humorous, just as the first one was, but it is a repeat of what was delivered there. As a result, I found it boring.

The humor points a finger at women’s submissiveness to men, men’s tendency to be chary with their words and women’s supposed interest in clothes, jewelry, gossip and social status. All of this is laughed at, rather than criticized in a didactic, boring lecture. Humor is a better way of delivering a message than a preachy sermon. Nevertheless, the humor is the same as in the first book. A joke repeated several times is no longer funny. I did laugh at the start, but I was bored by the end.

We meet the same characters in the first book, with an addition of one or two. The characters met before are scarcely interesting anymore; second time around, they have become boring. The new characters have different names and circumstances, but they are essentially the same in type. For example, a male tutor replaces the live-in French governess. The vicar’s wife returns, committing the same follies as before. She is joined by a wife, a collector of husbands and male admirers, whom we now laugh at too. Always it is humor that conveys the message, but the messages conveyed and the characters portrayed are the same.

The plot is repetitive too. We follow one year in the life of a Devonshire family in the 1930s. Mom has published one book and wants to write more but household obligations and domestic chores continually get in the way--despite her now having an apartment of her own in London! Summer is spent, this year in Brittany, France. She travels to a conference or two and goes to dinner parties with friends. The party conversations bored me. The foreign countries visited, France and Belgium, are scarcely described. A missed opportunity!

Repetition and monotony drag down the story, despite the sprinkling of funny lines. I should steer clear of series. Others like them, but they do not seem to be for me. If you like series, you’ll probably like this a lot more than me!

Georgina Sutton narrates the audiobook. She also reads the first of the series. Her narration is marvelous. I have no complaints whatsoever. I did turn the speed down to 90%; this allows me time to suck on the humor. Her pacing helps the listener perceive the humor. Her French is good too. Sutton’s narration is worth four stars!

I liked the first book a lot, but this gave me nothing new, and so it bored me. I can give it two stars; it’s OK because of its humor.

***********************

The second of a series of four:
1.Diary of a Provincial Lady 4 stars
2.The Provincial Lady in London 2 stars
(Alternate title is The Provincial Lady Goes Further)
3.The Provincial Lady in America TBR
4.The Provincial Lady in Wartime TBR

[Lisa Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 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

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious gem of a novel — even better than its predecessor! Told in a witty, telegraphic style, our delightful heroine, now a minor authoress, must balance caring for her children, navigating a foreign watering hole, soothing the frequently ruffled feathers of the French nanny who is always having a crise, and budgeting within the confines of her shockingly thin bank account (or, unfortunately, budgeting not quite within the confines of her bank account). All of this while trying to write a follow-up book to satisfy her publisher! A dinner party with an old school chum whose glamorous life and ageless skin prompts a crise for our dear heroine is worth the price of the book.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite delicious. I enjoyed it just as much as the first volume, but will read other things before continuing the Provincial Lady's saga so that I can continue to appreciate E M Delafield's quirky sense of humour. My favourite quote from this volume comes while she is in London and is joined by her husband Robert. During the course of a conversation over lunch:

"That reminds Robert: there is to be a concert in the Village next month for most deserving local object, and he has been asked to promise my services as performer, which he has done. Definite conviction here that reference ought to be made to Married Women's Property Act or something like that, but exact phraseology eludes me, and Robert seems so confident that heart fails me, and I weakly agree to do what I can. (This, if taken literally, will amount to extraordinarily little, as have long ceased to play piano seriously, have never at any time been able to sing, and have completely forgotten few and amateurish recitations that have occasionally been forced upon me on local platforms.)

Highly recommended for a light-hearted look at life in an English village between the wars.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the first book in Delafield's Provincial Lady series, and was keen to continue. The narrative voice, as it is in the original tome, is captivating and witty. One connects with the narrator at once; the reader is immediately part of her world, and all of the challenges which befall her. No old ground from the first book is covered in detail, but even if you haven't read the first tome for years and years, you are thrust right back into it, recalling forgotten details almost at once. The Provincial Lady Goes Further is culturally aware and laugh-aloud funny in places, and so very enjoyable. Still written in diary form, and decidedly difficult to put down, this is a wonderfully entertaining read, sure to delight all fans of Persephone and Virago books.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

April 5th - Pleasure at receiving notice of availability of book to borrow diminished when I arrive a site and find it is the second volume, not the first, which I was anticipating. Reflect that beggars - as in me - cannot be choosers and at any rate if one remains flexible there is no reason reading a series out of order must be a problem. Greatly enjoy memoirs and books in letter or diary form, so expect to enjoy this one. (Mem.: Ponder possibility of plot by publishers in releasing second volumes of series free to public sites, thus inducing readers to shell out hard earned money for first book. Resolve to remain firm in face of such machinations.)

April 6th - Puzzle over question of MC's husband - Robert - who seems to neither toil nor does he spin, while his family is always short of Funds. Wonder if he is impoverished Peer or Gentleman Farmer. As daughter of a farmer I can sympathize with the difficulties. However, I seem to recall my Father working seven days a week. It does not appear Robert works any days at all. If access to first volume were forthcoming suspect this question could be resolved. (N.B. "Marked difference between real life and fiction again exemplified here." As overdue bills and complaints from bank not at all amusing in real life.)

April 7th - Not for first time am compelled to relegate authors who sprinkle books with French Phrases to one of the deeper circles in Hades, at the same time acknowledging that taking German in High School because it was the language of my Grandmother not a sign of high decision making skills in younger self. Although as other choice was Spanish, I do not see how this situation could have been improved upon at the time. (Query: If Welsh had been offered, would I have taken it for similar reason, and if so would it perhaps have proved more useful in giving me some idea how to pronounce incomprehensible names and locations in Historical Fiction and Fantasy novels?)

Reach end of volume, determined to find way to read other entries in the series - free or cheap. Also determine not to copy (non-)writing habits from Main Character, as these chiefly consist of leaving home for long periods and spending non-existent funds travelling to places one does not really wish to see. 3.5 stars

[Malia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps even better than 'Diary of a Provincial Lady'! I really enjoyed this book:) The style is very straight-forward and almost unintentionally humorous. We are taken along on a ride through the Provincial Lady's life as she sets up a flat in London, from which to write. There are distractions aplenty and funny, almost anecdotal stories about her family and household staff. I'm looking forward to reading the next one, "Provincial Lady in America."

Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com

[Carla Remy · Rating 2 out of 5]

From 1933
This is the sequel to something like Diary of a Provincial Lady, which I once read. Okay, I didn't like this. Even Diary was pretty boring, but very funny. I often tell my cat he is being disquieting, and I got the word from that.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime:
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine.

When the editor "wanted some light middles", preferably in serial form, she promised to "think of something". And so it was, in 1930, Delafield began writing her largely autobiographical novels detailing the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling upper-middle class lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.

Substituting the names of Robin and Vicky for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund, The Diary of a Provincial Lady has never been out of print.

In this second book, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, written in 1932, our Lady is now a published author. Success and a sizeable royalty cheque allow her to travel further afield. She attends a literary conference in Brussels, takes a lease on a small flat in London and the family goes on holiday to Brittany.

But while she endeavours to embrace the London literary scene, things at home remain reassuring the same. Mademoiselle weeps on the sofa and refuses to eat when Vicky decides she'd like to go away to school, Robert is his usual monosyllabic self, snoozing behind a copy of the Times, and there's a seemingly endless stream of visitors arriving at the house.

This second volume is just as appealing, charming and wickedly witty as the first.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sgjrj

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 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.

[SilveryTongue · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 estrellas

Cómico y chispeante. E.M. Delafield tiene la habilidad de hacer reir con las situaciones más absurdas y cotidianas de esta dama de provincia, la cual tiene un serio complejo de inferioridad y un guardarropa limitado para sus citas sociales.

Simpático y llevadero si te gusta el humor inglés.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book, but enjoyable all the same.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first volume was about gentile poverty and domestic disaster, which was very relatable. But now that the Lady has blossomed into a successful author, her life is much less interesting.

[Joséphine]

Did not quite finish, even though I loved the first book.
The jokes got a bit old, I think, and my favorite parts were the domestic shenanigans, which evoked a lot of childhood nostalgia - the picnics in bad weather, the dog sitting on the children in the backseet, the father mostly hidden between the Times. In the middle of the second book, the narrator gets a flat in London - ostensibly to Write undisturbed, but mostly to see Literary Peers and Heartbroken Friends - and I started skipping pages and losing interest.
Might come back though.

[Mrsgaskell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sequel to The Diary of a Provincial Lady and it's equally enjoyable. Since the publication of her first book has attained some financial success, the Provincial Lady acquires a London flat - husband Robert doesn't get much say in this and stays comfortably in Devon. In London, the P.L. (whose name we never find out) spends time with friends and their literary acquaintances. Old friends, hardly remembered, Pamela Pringle for one, show up, and P.L. is fascinated by her somewhat scandalous lifestyle. P.L.'s cynical asides are still highly amusing. Fashions, finances, piles of correspondence and domestic concerns still dominate her life. At school holidays, the P.L. returns home and we enjoy more of the household, servants, the governess Mademoiselle, and a new addition, a summer tutor, affectionately referred to as Casabianca.


The edition I own contains four volumes in one, The Diary of a Provincial Lady and three sequels.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books finds The Provincial Lady, now a celebrated author, taking a flat in London, ostensibly to get some writing done but instead mostly reluctantly socializing with a variety of amusing friends and acquaintances including scandalous old school chum Pamela Pringle and Emma the Bloomsbury Group hanger-on. If the original Diary of a Provincial lady were chocolate cake, this would be day old chocolate cake - almost as good but not quite, but you still wouldn't mind another piece.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather disappointed that this one wasn't as good as the previous one. Not sure whether I shall bother with the rest of the series.

[cloudyskye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and relaxing. Just like the first volume.

[Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

E.M. Delafield's witty pen, her sharp observations on everyday life in England in the 1930s (middle to upper class) are priceless. Nevertheless, one can also feel a bit like going in circles. I had fun reading it, although the halo of novelty (from the first part of the series) has somewhat faded.

[Rebekah Marshall · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had no chapters. it had dates as it was a diary but only 1 blank line before the next date. it was not very interesting. I guess it was good in the 1930s when it was written but it was a slow read because my brain was reading it like a posh English woman.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fame and fortune change the quiet life of the Provincial Lady.

This book is the sequel to "Diary of a Provincial Lady." An author who writes a very successful book almost always tries to cash in by writing another one about the same characters. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Planned as a light-hearted book about an English housewife, "Diary" unexpectedly turned into a best-seller. The story of a quiet,conventional wife and mother who uses her diary to skewer her friends, neighbors, in-laws, politics, society, and the educational system is very funny reading and people demanded more. Sequels are frequently disappointing because the writer has simply run out of material, but I enjoyed this one even more than the first in the series.

I think it's because the author has already created her "characters" (thinly disguised versions of herself, her husband, son, daughter) and has established that her readers love her narrator's acerbic humor. In this book, she's free to pull out all the stops and she does. The narrator has achieved the dream of all writers - a popular book - and if it hasn't made her a household name or wealthy, at least people around her know that she's a published author and her initial payments from her publisher are far beyond what she had hoped for. In effect, she's won a small lottery. Now what?

Of course, she gets to hear the opinions of all her friends about her book. All are delighted to see their neighbors held up to ridicule, but no one sees himself/herself in the book. Naturally, all explain earnestly that they, too, could write a fascinating book if only they had time. Writing looks so easy when someone else is doing it.

As to the money, she considers installing electricity in her country home or replacing her ancient, unreliable car. In the end, she buys a few clothes and rents an apartment ("flat") in London. This is typical of the times, when London was the center of the cultural universe and even those who claimed to enjoy country living couldn't do without regular visits to London to shop, go to the theater, visit museums and art galleries and generally catch up on the latest sophisticated modes of living.

In the case of the narrator, she also wants a place where she can write without constant interruptions from children, servants, neighbors, etc. Any woman who's ever worked from home will sympathize. But setting up and furnishing an apartment takes more time and money than she anticipates and lands her in more than her usual funny situations.

There are also changes at home. Daughter Vickie has convinced her parents to send her to boarding school. A school must be chosen and Vickie's French governess must be gotten rid of. Easier said than done. There are the usual servant problems and turn-over. Most cooks and maid want jobs in the city, not in a quiet village.

The narrator's social life expands as she meets authors of all types. She quickly discovers that most of them are as silly and boring as her village neighbors and she has to travel further to be irritated by them. But one new friend is anything but boring. Pamela Pringle is a contemporary of the narrator, but currently on her third husband with signs that a fourth may be in the offing. She's the quintessential drama queen and her complete self-absorption is believable and hilarious.

Although the two women have so little in common, Pamela is determined to use the new friendship to her advantage. She always needs a sympathetic ear and an alibi if her husband accuses her of being with her lover. As she says, it's not her fault that men go crazy over her. And the men who follow her around do seem crazy, or at least odd.

And speaking of odd.... Why are all the spinsters in older English novels such crack-pots? They're all either thin and timid as rabbits or stout, hearty, and over-bearing. No such thing as an unmarried Englishwoman who acts like a normal person, apparently.

This book reminds me of one of my favorite books - Margaret Halsey's "With Malice Toward Some", a young American woman's account of a year spent in England in the early 1930's. I love the humor from that period, which I think derives from the conflict between traditional society and newer sophistication. When people are torn between their respect for the old ways and the attraction of the new ones, funny situations are inevitable. Not sure how many people would enjoy this 90-year-old story, but I like it very much.

[SarahC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady in London continues the series which began with The Diary of a Provincial Lady. Delafield's Lady continues her fun chronicle of daily life, domestic incidents, and the spreading of her creative wings as a published writer.

The Lady still talks of village life in Devonshire, her domestic challenges, interactions with her domestic help, her skeptical husband Robert, and the young children Robin and Vicky. It is all with a certain amount of amusement -- half pointing out the eccentricities of friends and foes and half doubting her own daily sanity.

In this volume of the diaries, the Lady has now published a book to some success and rents a flat in London from which she may do her writing part time. So now her second residence offers an added setting for her attempts at household economizing and encountering an array of new faces who all wish to meet the author and are "all interested in Books."

And if you ever have episodes of procrastination, you've found a companion in the Lady. Through the latter part of this diary, she regularly faces the blank page which should hold the beginnings of her next commissioned work entitled "Modern Freedom in Marriage" (modern in 1933, that is).

I've now read two of Delafield's Lady diaries. They are more gentle wit than anything. I find myself repeatedly in like mind with this character of early last-century England. Her subtlety carries her through life filled with village happenings and the fast lane of London.

It is thoughtful writing, highly recommended.

[Ritika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a year of re-reads, but re-reads are not without their compensations. There was the delightful interlude in the middle with a discussion about Frances Iles' real identity Anthony Berkeley Cox by his contemporaries, a deeper interest in the material led me down a rabbit hole of who's who in the text (a mixture of fascinating and tragic, but eye opening nevertheless), and the gradual understanding of the glossed-over subtext regarding what had to be a very strained marriage at that point. The first read, which happened when I was at least a decade younger, definitely was not this deep a read.

This book is not as sharp a satire as its predecessor, and I missed the insight into the gentrified country life from the point of view of women. But literary London with all its glitter and polish made a decent substitute to skewer, and a successful female writer poking fun at herself and her own world is a rarity in every era. She feels like an everywoman, mirroring what most of us would have felt about the world, making us forget her own success and accomplishments. But her feelings of not belonging is also universal, and she made her deprecation into her wittiest tool, so there is indeed a lesson there. This book is always warmly recommended, and though not necessary, would be better appreciated if read in order.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I liked this series more. I'm an inveterate Britophile, and even I can't help seeing the nameless voice of these books as a snob. She does engage in a fair bit of self-deprecation, which helps. Still, it's difficult to empathize with someone whose biggest problem is finding and keeping good domestic help. At one point, she mentions how nice it would be to be rich. Her husband doesn't appear to do anything, other than eat, read the newspaper, and grumble about everything. Perhaps if he sought gainful employment, his wife wouldn't have to earn all the income and worry about her frequent overdrafts at the bank. I can't reconcile the purchase of a flat in London, sending two children to boarding school, and vacations at the seaside in France with poverty, which the author frequently pleads.

Despite this obviously being meant as humorous, I did not laugh at all. It was more a matter of recognizing a punch line, and thinking “Yeah, I understand why other women of her time and socioeconomic stature might find that funny.”

Despite this, I will most likely read the third in the series, if only to see if she ever earns enough with her writing to buy all the dresses she wants.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorada Dama de provincias, me has conquistado.

Con esas palabras finalizaba mi pequeña opinión acerca del primer libro de La dama de provincias. Algo que, un año después, reafirmo.

Duda que se plantea por sí sola en este punto: ¿Por qué mi guardarropa nunca contiene otra cosa que pesadas prendas, adecuadas para regiones árticas u otras extraordinariamente ligeras, idóneas para los trópicos? El punto medio, por lo visto, no existe.

Las idas y venidas (y por supuesto, las dudas existenciales) de La dama de provincias ha sido uno de los bonitos regalos que me ha proporcionado la literatura en los últimos años. Y al igual que su primera parte, La dama de provincias prospera está plagado de divertidos momentos domésticos (y no tan domésticos) PERO que entre los cuales se puede ver entre líneas un tono crítico y reivindicativo por parte de la autora y, personalmente y en tal contexto, me chifla.

Sinceramente, os animo a compartir aventuras con este peculiar personaje. ¡Creedme! Es muy fácil cogerle cariño y sentirse identificada en alguna de las situaciones presentes dentro de su mundo cotidiano lleno de encanto.

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

After loving the first book in the series earlier in the month, I went straight on to the second one. This volume dealt less with the domestic situation and more with the society life in London which I don’t enjoy as much.

Again, with this being short I got through it really quickly and liked the development of the protagonist’s career as a writer, a plot point that I assume was heavily influenced by the author’s own life.

Overall I would still highly recommend the series and though you wouldn’t be missing anything with regards to the plot if you started here, I would suggest starting with the first as I found that the development of the main character is a great thing to read.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a follow up from the first book Diary of a Provincial Lady. This is rather funny and amazing series. Our provincial lady expands her interests to London and France and brings more interesting characters in the book by means of her amazing social life and her early life as a writer.
I think this book will make an easy read and most readers will find them absolutely glorious. I can't wait to get started on her American trip. I know it will be just as amazing. E. M. Delafield is a delightful and oh! ever so British author. I shall try and get more of her books! Watch this space! ❤️

[Gabi Coatsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved The Diary of a Provincial Lady, because it's written exactly the style in which I imagine a harassed mother in the 1930's might write. This book follows on, and is just as funny. The problems the author has with finding extra staff and a way of furnishing a flat she has rented in London (so she can write)are not your everyday problems, but the way she writes about them made me smile and sometimes laugh aloud. Recommended for Anglophiles and people not maddened by upper middle class.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

If anything, this book is funnier than the first one ... I couldn't stop laughing. Clearly, I should have been reading these while in the hospital - they would have done me a world of good. What fun!! Bridget Jones is a piker compared to this!