This fictional diary of a middle class women in the 1930’s is a delightful read. Dealing with everyday occurrences and recounting them with a wonderful sense of humour. This is a look at ordinary middle class life at the time (although there is much to relate to now) told with warmth and a wonderful sense of humour.
August 2009 Guest Editor Erica James on The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. DELAFIELD I first read E.M. Delafield’s The Diary of a Provincial Lady in the early 90s when I was living in Belgium, which was also when I started writing. With its quintessentially English sense of self-deprecating humour, I loved the book from the first page. It made me realize that writing about ordinary life in an amusing way was something I would enjoy doing.
The Provincial Lady has a nice house, a nice husband (usually asleep behind The Times) and nice children. In fact maintaining Niceness is the Provincial Lady's goal in life - her raison d'etre. She never raises her voice, rarely ventures outside Devon (why would she?), only occasionally allows herself to become vexed by the ongoing servant problem and would be truly appalled by the confessional mode which has gripped the late twentieth century. The Provincial Lady, after all is part of what made Britain great.
