{"product_id":"diary-of-a-provincial-lady","title":"Diary of a Provincial Lady","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"width: 310px;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/7642\/5795\/files\/Diary_of_a_Prov_Lady_for_website_1.jpg?v=1593111912\u0026amp;width=700\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAFTERWORD BY NICOLA BEAUMAN\u003cbr\u003e368pp\u003cbr\u003eISBN 9781903155950\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis great classic of domestic literature initially appeared in weekly instalments in \u003cem\u003eTime and Tide, \u003c\/em\u003ethe feminist weekly\u003cem\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e Some 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 \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiary of a Provincial Lady\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\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 \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 \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 \u003cem\u003eThe Pursuit of Love\u003c\/em\u003e because, as the Afterword to the \u003cem\u003eDiary \u003c\/em\u003eobserves: ‘Self-deprecation of this kind is a particularly English occupation, one which foreigners find rather hard to understand. From \u003cem\u003eEmma\u003c\/em\u003e through \u003cem\u003eCranford\u003c\/em\u003e, to \u003cem\u003eThe Diary of a Nobody\u003c\/em\u003e, EF Benson’s Lucia books, \u003cem\u003e1066\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eand All That\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\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 1929 Lady B stays to tea. We talk some more about bulbs, the Dutch School of Painting, Our Vicar’s Wife, sciatica, and \u003cem\u003eAll Quiet on the Western Front\u003c\/em\u003e.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1931 the \u003cem\u003eNew York Herald Tribune \u003c\/em\u003ecalled the \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiary\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e ‘a delicious book, a triumph of art and wit: EM Delafield is writing of a group and setting peculiarly English. What she has done is to extract from them the universals, the pure essence of comedy. She arouses the emotion of recognition in any one who has ever risen from hard-earned repose morning after morning to face the terrible trifles of the day.’ The (London) Times made the same point when it said that ‘she had an almost uncanny gift for converting the small and familiar dullnesses of everyday life into laughter’. India Knight once said that she ‘re-read for the nth time E M Delaifled’s dry, caustic \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiary of a Provincial Lady\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e and howled with laughter’. And Jilly Cooper wrote perceptively in the \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e: ‘Gradually one realises that, despite the short sentences and the simplicity and unpretentiousness of the prose and subject matter, here is a very subtle and deliberate talent at work, naturally satirical, with a marvellous ear for dialogue and an unerringly accurate social sense.’ \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEndpaper\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003eEndpapers taken from the Harper \u0026amp; Brothers, New York cover for \u003cem\u003eDiary of a Provincial Lady \u003c\/em\u003e1931\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"E M Delafield","offers":[{"title":"None","offer_id":54098803065139,"sku":"ghk1789694959591","price":25.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tissue\/Endpaper","offer_id":54098803097907,"sku":"pjb1789694959592","price":35.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cambridge Imprint paper","offer_id":54098803130675,"sku":"dse1789694959593","price":36.21,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Reusable fabric napkin","offer_id":54098803163443,"sku":"nog1789694959594","price":50.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/0578\/4627\/files\/diary-of-a-provincial-lady_1.jpg?v=1789694964","url":"https:\/\/sandstepclad.shop\/products\/diary-of-a-provincial-lady","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}