The Complete Provincial Lady Series - Five Novels - E M Delafield

1930s England. The setting mainly a village in Devon full of self important characters - the Vicar's wife for one and we have our very self effacing lady. Who would like to retort cleverly and smartly and never does and gets taken advantage of left, right and centre. The stories are a collection of five pieces - each interesting and details the Provincial Lady's travels and pursuits from Russia to America to wartime England. There are trips back and forth home but the children are growing up fast and she though particularly sentimental over her children, has accepted the fact that they are now grown up. Her relationship with Robert is a bit sad - she loves him dearly, but he is typified as the usual stoic Englishman who is frightened to even show the slightest bit of emotion or feelings - not a new age man definitely and I do so wish he could have been a bit warmer! The stories are tailor made for an Anglophile - they may not appeal to all because they are old fashioned, the women somehow give in to the men at all levels whether husband, bosses, uncles or anyone around. But it is descriptive of the age in which they were set and the conditions of the time. The stories apart from describing the conditions, the characters of the times also depicts the domestic front which was in operation at the time. England's homes still had a cook, a maid and the change had not yet fully come. I enjoyed reading it very much. Was just happy that Amazon put this out in a collection at such a reasonable price too.