Reviews

The Provincial Lady in London by E.M. Delafield

idesofmarch's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

krobart's review

4.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2018/09/17/day-1263-the-provincial-lady-in-london/

jalyth's review

3.0

I enjoyed this. I laughed a few times. I liked the character, which is most important to me. I'd have liked some plot/resolution though. Just a little, toward the end. Maybe I'll see if I can find the first one/others in this series.

cimorene1558's review

3.0

Since I already read a lot of this in my mom's condensed version of the first two books, it was a bit repetitive, but still enjoyable!

jenmcmaynes's review against another edition

3.0

Not as charming as the first Provincial lady book, but still quite funny at times. My biggest complaint is that not much really happens (even more so than in the original book). But I do love reading 'diary entry' style books; an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

shelf_reflect10n's review

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

One of my favorite comfort reads—English lady (not Lady) between the wars, trying to reconcile demands and strictures of domestic life with her writing and desire for more. 

manorclassics's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is the first sequel to The Diary of a Provincial Lady, and is also known as The Provincial Lady Goes Further. It's more of the same, the misadventures of a wife, mother and author that are hilarious to read about. I personally think this one is just as good as the first even though the London sections are maybe a little bit less interesting. Overall a really fun read and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

kmg365's review against another edition

3.0

I wish I liked this series more. I'm an inveterate Britophile, and even I can't help seeing the nameless voice of these books as a snob. She does engage in a fair bit of self-deprecation, which helps. Still, it's difficult to empathize with someone whose biggest problem is finding and keeping good domestic help. At one point, she mentions how nice it would be to be rich. Her husband doesn't appear to do anything, other than eat, read the newspaper, and grumble about everything. Perhaps if he sought gainful employment, his wife wouldn't have to earn all the income and worry about her frequent overdrafts at the bank. I can't reconcile the purchase of a flat in London, sending two children to boarding school, and vacations at the seaside in France with poverty, which the author frequently pleads.

Despite this obviously being meant as humorous, I did not laugh at all. It was more a matter of recognizing a punch line, and thinking “Yeah, I understand why other women of her time and socioeconomic stature might find that funny.”

Despite this, I will most likely read the third in the series, if only to see if she ever earns enough with her writing to buy all the dresses she wants.

tonki's review

funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

ashleylm's review against another edition

4.0

I'm waffling a bit on my score. Four seems high, but it was, like its predecessor, such an easy pleasure to read, and that's worth something. It's just not quite as good as the first one—there was something especially funny/touching about the main subplot in the first (will the put-upon daughter escape her hilariously dreadful mother and marry?), and the current main subplot (what will the triple divorcee do next?) isn't as interesting and isnt' resolved.

So as a work of art, 3 stars. But as something to looking forward to reading before lights out, definitely 4 stars--and that's how I read it, so that's how I judge it.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!