I regret that my grandmother and I never discussed the Delafield books. I didn't begin reading them until after her death (I was 14 when she died). My grandmother did jot some comments in some of the books, which are delightful to me. She noted at the end of Faster! Faster! that she had read it for the eleventh time!
I'm noting below a list of the books I own and cherish, with comments about some of them.
- A Reversion to Type
- Consequences -- I disagree with the comment that "Alex grows up to develop strong unrecognised lesbian feelings." It's more to the point that Alex is searching for love from any quarter.
- House Party (originally published as Challenge to Clarissa, House Party is the American title).
- Diary of a Provincial Lady
- The Provincial Lady Goes Further -- My copy is titled The Provincial Lady
in London. I assume this is an American title.
- The Provincial Lady in Wartime -- I have only the recently reissued paperback,
which includes annoying footnotes for every mention of A.R.P. and other British
wartime terms.
- The Chip and the Block
- The Optimist
- The Way Things Are
- The War Workers -- probably my absolute favorite. I've read it so many times, my copy is falling aprt.
- Faster! Faster! -- another of my favorites.
- Gay Life -- Again, I differ with the note on the web site regarding the theme of this one. I would say the Moons are secondary characters, and Denis, the weak-willed secretary who longs to impress everyone he meets but fails miserably, is the main character.
- Jill -- Again, the story is about Jill and how her life comes together with Jack Galbraith's. A wonderful portrait of these characters.
- Ladies and Gentlemen in Victorian Fiction
- Late and Soon
- No One Now Will Know -- I loved seeing the source of the title on your web page.
- Nothing Is Safe
- I Visit the Soviets
- Thank Heaving Fasting
- When Women Love -- the American title for Three Marriages. Amazingly vivid description of the Sepoy Rebellion in "The Wedding of Rose Barlow."
- Turn Back the Leaves
- First Love -- the American title for What Is Love?
- Women Are Like That I just ordered a book from Alibris.com by E.M. Delafield. It's called British Character and, not having seen it yet, I think it may be a differently titled The Sincerest Form.... I will let you know when I receive it.