Audio Book – The Diary of a Provincial Lady
(first published 1930)
E. M. Delafield (1890-1943)
Language: English
“Notice, and am gratified by, large clump of crocuses near the front gate. Should like to make whimsical and charming reference to these and try to fancy myself as ‘Elizabeth of the German Garden’, but am interrupted by Cook, saying that the Fish is here, but he’s only bought cod and haddock, and the haddock doesn’t smell any too fresh, so what about cod? Have often noticed that Life is like that.”
First published in 1930, this charming, funny book is a warm portrait of a middle-class English family and their village life. Our heroine recounts the mundane delights and disasters of her household, dealing with constant money worries, the challenges of finding & keeping a really good parlourmaid, and how best to retain grace towards her fellow humans in the face of their astonishing range of foibles. It’s also a wonderfully genuine description of a marriage, with all the little ups and downs of rubbing along with the same person for so many years.
(Summary by Cori Samuel)
The original text of this recording is in the Public Domain in countries where copyright expires 70 years or less after the author’s death, but is still protected by copyright in the USA and some other countries. Please check the copyright law of your country before downloading.
The recording is released under the Creative Commons license CC0.
Total running time: 5:47:05 – Read in English by Cori Samuel
01 – Section 01 – 27:30 min [download all sections or listen online]
02 – Section 02 – 31:32 min
03 – Section 03 – 27:11 min
04 – Section 04 – 26:10 min
05 – Section 05 – 28:12 min
06 – Section 06 – 25:47 min
07 – Section 07 – 27:29 min
08 – Section 08 – 27:10 min
09 – Section 09 – 31:28 min
10 – Section 10 – 30:00 min
11 – Section 11 – 31:20 min
12 – Section 12 – 33:16 min
In addition to the reader, this audio book was produced by:
Dedicated Proof-Listener: Newgatenovelist
Catalogued 1. May 2018