E M DELAFIELD - THE PROVINCIAL LADY COLLECTION (5 BOOKS)

I was delighted when I was able to download this from Amazon at a ridiculously low price!

For me this is in the category of Agatha Christie and Jane Austen. Someone I will go back to regularly when I need to be really happy!

Delafield deals with our Provincial Lady whose name we never get to know in different circumstances and places. All with tongue in the cheek humor, all the stories poke fun at not just herself but those around her but in the nicest possible way. There is no malice or harshness to our

Lady's thoughts and the few times that she does get angry or annoyed are few and far between.

Detailing life at a time when things were slower and reminiscent of the era of Downton, this book was entertaining from beginning to end. Story telling is excellent and characterization is also wonderful. The difficulties of maintaining a facade of respectability and position balanced with the lack of money and trying hard in the face of much difficulty to appear well off is very much part of the story. You can get tired of our lady's inability to cope with domestic issues or work of any kind and the entire flurry of nerves and fear over the domestic problems that arise regularly but this must be par for the course for ladies of the era who never knew how to cook, clean or manage a household on their own.

Very interesting as a social commentary on the way women behaved, and also the way the role of women changed with the onset of the war. Old fashioned notions of being a stay at home mum were going by the board and girls were discovering the joys of independence.

A very light hearted read for an insight into life in the early 20th century.