{"product_id":"diary-of-a-provincial-lady-by-e-m-delafield","title":"Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield","description":"\u003cp\u003eDiary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield by Persephone books, was the inspiration and part of my Knitting Salon Book and Yarn club in 2024.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis great classic of domestic literature initially appeared in weekly instalments in \u003cem\u003eTime and Tide,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003ethe feminist weekly\u003cem\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eSome might find it an oxymoron that a book is both domestic and feminist. But this is the central remit of Persephone Books and the reason why\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiary of a Provincial Lady\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1930) is a quintessential title for us; and why, although there are other editions in print (EM Delafield is now out of copyright) we felt we wanted it to join our list. An additional reason was that we knew our German printer, GGP, would make an excellent job out of reproducing Arthur Watts’s original illustrations. Most previous editions have ignored these, however we feel they are a crucial part of the fun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"std\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiary\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, which chronicles the day-to-day life of a wife and mother living in the country, is above all\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003efun\u003c\/em\u003e, in fact it is one of the funniest books ever written. And yet the humour is of a particular, Mr Pooter-ish type: an earlier EM Delafield novel had on its frontispiece a quote from\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Diary of a Nobody\u003c\/em\u003e: ‘I left the room with silent dignity, but caught my foot in the mat.’ We recommend it to any Persephone reader who loved, for example, Nancy Mitford's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Pursuit of Love\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebecause, as the Afterword to the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiary\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eobserves: ‘Self-deprecation of this kind is a particularly English occupation, one which foreigners find rather hard to understand. From\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmma\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethrough\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCranford\u003c\/em\u003e, to\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Diary of a Nobody\u003c\/em\u003e, EF Benson’s Lucia books,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e1066\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eand All That\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca title=\"https:\/\/persephonebooks.co.uk\/collections\/grey-books-wwii\/products\/mrs-miniver\" href=\"https:\/\/persephonebooks.co.uk\/collections\/grey-books-wwii\/products\/mrs-miniver\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, to name but a few of the links in the chain, they are all books in which the English laugh at their own peculiarities. They are also books which make light of the potentially grave and which subtly transform tragedy into pathos and pathos into humour.’ Which is why the trivial (bulbs) is so often bracketed with the serious (the war) as in the opening entry: ‘November 7\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e1929 Lady B stays to tea. We talk some more about bulbs, the Dutch School of Painting, Our Vicar’s Wife, sciatica, and\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAll Quiet on the Western Front\u003c\/em\u003e.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Susan Crawford Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56534713598330,"sku":null,"price":8.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2153\/5185\/files\/DiaryofaProvincialLadyBook_20260130_121958_3dc14ce1-b2eb-47a4-89b1-d076d08d14ef.jpg?v=1770037246","url":"https:\/\/susancrawfordvintage.com\/products\/diary-of-a-provincial-lady-by-e-m-delafield","provider":"Susan Crawford Vintage","version":"1.0","type":"link"}