The Provincial Lady in Wartime

 The Provincial Lady in Wartime by E.M. Delafield

I can't imagine why I waited so long to finish this quartet of fictional journals after finding the first three so delightful. My very thick paperback containing all four, The Diary of a Provincial Lady, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, The Provincial Lady in America, and this one somehow got shoved onto one of my "unread" shelves and ignored for six years. 

I was only a page in when I was reminded that for sheer entertainment, these books are hard to beat. Ms. Delafield is smart, funny, and has just enough bite in her attitude to make her relatable. Her lifestyle is light-years from mine in that she lives in a huge house, has staff to cook and clean for her family, and is a successful author; but when she tells us about her flaws and fumbles you realize she's no different than the rest of us. And the way she tells those stories is brilliant. Situations that might leave you and I shaking our heads, grumbling and complaining, are for her the makings of lively anecdotes, even when nothing much is happening. They are all just "Standing By", waiting for the fighting to begin in earnest, but she sprinkles her wit and candor over the daily grind and creates magic. Oh, how I wish I could see life the way she does. 

According to online info these are fictional journals based partly on her own life. Whatever else they may be, they are excellent, excellent reading.