Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Diary of a Provincial Lady cover art

The Diary of a Provincial Lady

By: E. M. Delafield
Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Volume 1 cover art
Barbara Pym: A BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Miss Buncle's Book cover art
High Rising cover art
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day cover art
Someone at a Distance cover art
Christmas at Thrush Green cover art
Good Evening, Mrs Craven cover art
Three-a-Penny cover art
The Friendly Air cover art
Mrs. Tim of the Regiment cover art
The Making of a Marchioness cover art
The Diary of a Nobody cover art
Cold Comfort Farm cover art
Vanity Fair cover art
The Light Years cover art

Summary

'Lady B. stays to tea. (Mem.: Bread-and-butter too thick. Speak to Ethel.) We talk some more about bulbs, the Dutch School of Painting, our Vicar's wife, sciatica, and All Quiet on the Western Front. (Query: is it possible to cultivate the art of conversation when living in the country all the year round?)'

If the question suggests a qualified answer, there is no doubt that the art of diary writing is alive and well and very, very funny in Devonshire in the 1920s. At least in the hands of E. M. Delafield. Though poles apart in many ways, Bridget Jones's Diary could not have existed without her sometimes arch, often lofty, but deeply English upper middle class forbear.

Diary of a Provincial Lady is a classic of its time, revealing the thoughts and concerns of a Lady embedded in family life and the mores of comfortable country life. She has a husband 'raised to the peerage', two children and servants; she is burdened by the superior Lady Boxe, the tiresome vicar's wife and the constant temptation to live beyond her monthly household allowance. But she soldiers on, recording her days with acute observation, wit, self-deprecation and colour.

A balance to the Bloomsbury intensity of the day, this is a classic that has never been out of print and now comes to life in this pitch-perfect reading by Georgina Sutton.

©2016 PD (P)2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd

What listeners say about The Diary of a Provincial Lady

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    136
  • 4 Stars
    47
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    149
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    114
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

the Diary of a Provincial Lady

Amusing, trifling darling!. Well read dairy of the trivia that fills the life of the provincial lady.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

In league with the finest of its kind

If you like Mapp and Lucia or Cold Comfort Farm this is the book for you! Witty and well written, it does not challenge the brain; perfect period escapism

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

Great to hear the forerunner of the likes of Bridget Jones etc. wished it was longer!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Charming!

Witty and charming account of day to day observations.
Preferred the reader on the Radio 4 series myself as this one sounded like they were suffering with a cold as sounded very nasal!
Anyhow, entertaining read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A mixed review

The book was interesting and mildly amusing at first but it soon became boring and it was a bit of an endurance test to get to the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

Growing up in the Fifties, I can recognise the world of the Thirties with its smoking, foxhunting, class distinctions,cold houses, no antibiotics, no welfare state, no NHS. A different world from today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolute delight!

A joy from start to finish and perfect narration by Georgina Sutton. Can’t wait to listen to the next instalment!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Never disappoints

Sixth or seventh time of re-visiting Diary of Provincial Lady. ALWAYS a joy from bulbs to Lady B's party. Our Vicar's Wife my favourite character in literature. WELL worth A Read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Reading of my favourite book.

Recommend without any hesitation. Really hope the rest of the series and radio adaptation are soon available.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A brilliantly performed version

I have loved this book since I discovered it. At last a worthy audio version. It is still universally funny, even in our egalitarian world.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful