Comments on: Review: Diary of a Provincial Lady, E.M. Delafield

By: The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield | Iris on Books

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield | Iris on Books — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:44:40 +0000

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By: Ela

Ela — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:47:49 +0000

Interesting review. I didn’t mind the servant issue so much, mainly because it’s clear to me how mentally terrified she is of Cook, and actually how much she can’t give orders with the right authority (as would be sanctioned by Lady Boxe). The Lady can’t cook, and was never taught (there’s a scene in one of the later books, ‘The Provincial Lady in Wartime’, where she makes Cook go on holiday, and has some lessons from a local woman – she’s rather touchingly horrified by what has to be done to cook rabbit stew), and when she’s staying in London, she always has to eat out. Her relationship with Mademoiselle, Vicky’s governess, is much more equal, and there’s a lovely bit in ‘The Provincial Lady In America’, where she meets Mademoiselle unexpectedly and is very glad to see her, something which is looked on askance by her American acquaintances.

The servant issue does diminish in the later books (though Cook is still around in wartime), or the emphasis on it – probably because fewer people would have had servants.

The Lady _is_ always complaining about her overdraft, but I guess the servants’ wages were paid directly by Robert, so weren’t influencing her own finances. Though I find it odd to realise that she can only afford to send Vicky to school because her literary work is doing well.

By: Review: The Secret History, Donna Tartt « Jenny's Books

Review: The Secret History, Donna Tartt « Jenny's Books — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:02:53 +0000

[…] 29, 2010 by Jenny Yeah, I remember the rule. I remember the exception to the rule. It turns out Animal Farm is exactly what you get when you […]

By: Simon T

Simon T — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:11:21 +0000

One of my very favourite books! And I understand feeling awkward about The Servant Question etc., but I find the servant dynamic the most fascinating thing in interwar novels – because in this period they were being gradually recognised as actually being human beings rather than automatons, and that made everything very interesting around the house…!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:54:47 +0000

In reply to Karenlibrarian.

Mercy, I was obviously lax about doing my reviews search for this one – yours is the second review I missed. I’m sorry!

I hope I don’t find Provincial Lady in London disappointing, because that’s actually the one I was most looking forward to. I love reading books set in London, because I love London and it’s fun to read about places I’ve been. Is there one set in America? I didn’t even know! Sounds fun. 🙂

By: Karenlibrarian

Karenlibrarian — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:03:57 +0000

I read this back in January and loved it, here is a link to my review:

http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2010/02/diary-of-provincial-lady-by-e-m.html

I’m kind of embarassed that the whole servant issue actually went right over my head and I didn’t even think about it. Interesting because my library just discussed The White Tiger the other day, and we talked a lot about servants, because the main character is a poor Indian boy who becomes a driver to a very wealthy family. Talk about treating your servants badly!

I also read The Provincial Lady in London, which I liked but not quite as much as the first. I haven’t gotten to any of the others in the series yet but I intend to read them all. I’d really like to see what she has to say about America.

By: trapunto

trapunto — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:21:21 +0000

In reply to trapunto. How did they take it?

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:23:01 +0000

In reply to Simcha.

I like a fluffy book myself – I have so much nonfiction checked out from the library that I’m longing for Georgette Heyer right now. 🙂

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:21:13 +0000

In reply to Thomas at My Porch.

Oo, sorry I missed yours! I added a link. 🙂 I was more sympathetic to her wish to impress Lady B – relentlessly superior people can do away with all my good behavior and make me terrible. :p

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:17:51 +0000

In reply to The Literary Omnivore. Yeah, it varies, I guess. Sometimes I can ignore it with my brain (I have a good ignorometer), but sometimes it hits me in a particular place and drives me crazy. I'm not sure what sparks the visceral reaction in this case...