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The Diary Of A Provincial Lady

Contains The Diary of a Provincial Lady, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, The Provincial Lady in America & The Provincial Lady in Wartime
  • Author
    • E.M. Delafield
Format
Regular price £12.99
Regular price Sale price £12.99
INTRODUCED BY JILLY COOPER AND WITH A COVER DESIGN BY CATH KIDSTON

'She converts the small and familiar dullness of life into laughter' THE TIMES


'And so begins one of the funniest, smartest and most lovable books I have ever read' KATHRYN HUGHES, GUARDIAN

'I finished the book in one sitting, leaving the children unbathed, dogs unwalked, a husband unfed' JILLY COOPER

'Glorious, simply glorious' DAILY TELEGRAPH


Behind this rather prim title lies the hilarious fictional diary of a disaster-prone lady of the 1930s and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos. There's her husband Robert, who, when he's not snoozing behind The Times does everything with grumbling reluctance; her gleefully troublesome children and a succession of tricky servants who invariably seem to gain the upper hand.

And if her domestic trials are not enough, she must keep up appearances. Particularly with the maddeningly patronising Lady Boxe, whom our Provincial Lady eternally (and unsuccessfully) tries to compete with.

Not available for shipping to the following countries:

  • ASM
  • GUM
  • MNP
  • UMI
  • FSM
  • MHL
  • PHL
  • PRI
  • USA
  • VIR
  • Published: Mar 03 2011
  • Pages: 576
  • 198 x 130mm
  • ISBN: 9780860685227
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Press Reviews

  • Independent
    Before there was Bridget Jones, there was Delafield's provincial lady, cataloguing her struggles with supercilious neighbours, a distracted husband and unforthcoming hyacinth bulbs. The home counties domesticity may be a creation of the 1930s, but some things are eternal, from the mixture of joy and tedium that is parenting, to the jolt of horror when you catch your reflection unawares in the mirror of a changing room
  • Kathryn Hughes

    Guardian
    And so begins one of the funniest, smartest and most lovable books I have ever read
  • India Knight

    I reread, for the nth time, E. M. Delafield's dry, caustic Diary of a Provincial Lady, and howled with laughter
  • Daily Telegraph
    Glorious, simply glorious
  • The Times
    She converts the small and familiar dullness of life into laughter
  • Jilly Cooper

    I finished the book in one sitting, leaving the children unbathed, dogs unwalked, a husband unfed
  • Jully Cooper
    I finished the book in one sitting, leaving the children unbathed, dogs unwalked, a husband unfed, and giving alternate cries of joy and recognition throughout
  • India Knight
    I reread, for the nth time, E. M. Delafield's dry, caustic Diary of a Provincial Lady, and howled with laughter
  • DAILY TELEGRAPH
    Glorious, simply glorious
  • The TIMES
    She converts the small and familiar dullness of life into laughter