Diary of a Provincial Lady

Diary of a Provincial Lady
by E.M. Delafield


Blurb:

In 1930s England, an upper-middle-class "lady of the house" records the comic adventures (and misadventures) of life in "the country".  Our Provincial Lady has a taciturn husband, a son away at the English version of "public school", a young daughter in the care of a French nanny/governess, friends, an irritating neighbor or two, constant trouble with money and servants, humble literary ambitions, and the undying hope that she will someday persuade her flower bulbs to perform up to standard. 

My Reaction:
(Shared read with Donald.  We found the book for free on the Australian Project Gutenberg, I think...  There were some formatting issues and the occasional typo, but nothing too terrible.  I may have had to convert it to mobi-format, so that might have created some of the problems.)

We found the Provincial Lady's observations quite amusing and will be sure to check out her other books.  Again and again, we had to laugh and shake our heads over how some things never change.  (And then there were a few things that I think we didn't quite get, but they didn't detract from the book's overall appeal.)

One comment:  If you don't know a little French (or if, like me, the very little French you once knew has mostly mysteriously disappeared), Mademoiselle's rather frequent comments en français may feel more like a nuisance than an amusement. 

A fun read-- not quite on par with the best Wodehouse, but still a delightful read.  It's a pleasure to know that there are more of them waiting to be enjoyed!

Madam, Will You Talk?

Madam, Will You Talk?
by Mary Stewart


Publisher's Blurb:

Much of a strange and tragic drama of revenge, lust, fear, and death has already been played by the time Charity Selborne arrives at a plush resort in the South of France.

But by befriending a terrified boy and catching the attention of his enigmatic, possibly murderous father, Charity has inadvertently placed herself center stage.

My Reaction:
(Note: I listened to an audio version.  As usual, by the time I was done, some of the reader's quirks had begun to grow irritating, but overall, not a bad reading.  It was funny hearing the reader pause ever-so-slightly before the bits of French.  That said, she handled them much more smoothly than I could have...)

The story was entertaining enough, but this is not one of my favorites of Stewart's novels (so far).  I suspect that listening to her books is less enjoyable (for me, at least) than reading them myself.  Certainly, it doesn't do them any favors.  Possibly they'd also seem fresher if spaced out a bit more.

...I find that I don't have much to say about the novel, specifically.  It benefits from the author's natural talent for strong settings.  Listening, I could easily picture the scenes.  The romance was (as usual) another case of Insta-Love-- and I found it difficult to sympathize with our heroine's speedy head-over-heels routine.  (It may be that I didn't care for the reader's presentation of the hero.)  As for the mystery, it was fine, but again, not the best I've read.  Some of her other books are much better, in that respect.

Still, I can't complain.  It gave me something to think about while knitting and crocheting. 

"The China Bowl"

"The China Bowl"
by E.F. Benson


Synopsis:
While still settling into his newly purchased home, a man is witness to a persistent apparition. 


My Reaction (with SPOILERS):
It didn't take long for me to recognize this story.  I've certainly read it before-- probably as part of a collection of ghost stories I read before starting this blog.  (Or at least I think it was that long ago...)  In any case, I remembered most of the story.  The significance of the china bowl was immediately clear-- though that might not be difficult to figure out on the very first read-- but I had forgotten the gruesome ending. 

So... Decent run-of-the-mill ghost story, but not in any way outstanding.  Predictable-- and the ghost itself isn't even scary.  (She's basically a grown-up version of that little girl from The Sixth Sense.)  What is it with ghosts being "witnessed" by multiple people at the same time?  I've written about this before, and it still mystifies me.  Is it supposed to lend credence to the tale that two or more people are seeing the same thing?  Because if that's the purpose-- don't make me laugh!  Now, on rare occasions it works, but in general, it simply doesn't. 

"An Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House"

"An Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House"
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu


Synopsis:
On the advice of his doctors, an invalid takes his family and servants to a rented home by the sea-- but it turns out that the house already has a group of occupants.  (Helpful Hint: The other occupants are ghosts.)


My Reaction:
(This was a stop-gap "shared read".  I.e. no detailed notes.)

The story has a few creepy moments, but on the whole was rather dry and included so many going-nowhere details that my total impression was something like a shiver followed by mild interest... succeeded by a period of waiting for something to happen... concluded with a shrug. 

What creepy moments there were, were effective.  I just could have wished for more of them!

Cold Comfort Farm

Cold Comfort Farm
by Stella Gibbons


Publisher's Blurb:

...a wickedly funny portrait of British rural life in the 1930s. Flora Poste, a recently orphaned socialite, moves in with her country relatives, the gloomy Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm, and becomes enmeshed in a web of violent emotions, despair, and scheming, until Flora manages to set things right.

My Reaction: 
(This was shared read.  As such, there are no detailed notes.)

We saw the 1990s film adaptation years ago-- so long ago that I had only the vaguest memories of it.  However, I feel safe saying that the book is better.

What higher praise can you give a book than to say that it made you laugh (in the intended places)?  Well, we laughed!
 
(A couple of slightly spoilery things follow, so if you want to remain innocent of all spoilage, sneak out the side door now.)  



At times, I could have wished for more explanation--  Flora's "rights"!  The exact nature of the "something nasty in the woodshed"!  How did Flora's conversation with Aunt Ada Doom begin?!  (Yes, I realize that we aren't meant to know those things and that they were very intentionally left out.  But I still want to knoooooow!)


...It was just fun to read.  I'm satisfied.