March 19, 2021

Looking Back - Diary of a Provincial Lady

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.



Fiction
1999 Prion Books (first published in 1930)
Read in April 2000
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

When Diary of a Provincial Lady was first published in 1930, critics on both sides of the Atlantic greeted it with enthusiasm. This charming, delightful and extremely funny book about daily life in a frugal English household was named by booksellers as the out-of-print novel most deserving of republication. 

This is a gently self-effacing, dry-witted tale of a long-suffering and disaster-prone Devon lady of the 1930s. A story of provincial social pretensions and the daily inanities of domestic life to rival George Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody.

My Original Thoughts (2000):

This was a selection for my online book group and while I thought there were many funny comments or incidents, I thought the book was rather dull. I skimmed the last dozen pages or so, just to be done with it. Tedious.

My Current Thoughts:

My only memory of this book is feeling badly that I didn't enjoy it as much as my online book group friends. 


8 comments:

  1. Oh dear. I have been looking forward to reading this one. But maybe not...

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    1. Oh, you never know, Deb. You might love it! Give it a try and let me know. :)

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  2. This is one of those reads that I go back to when I feel nostalgic!

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    1. Mystica, I wish I enjoyed it that much!

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  3. I remember hearing about this one through a book forum where there was a lot of talk about Persephone Books (the publisher that reprints neglected fiction by women). I may check it out one day but I have several other Persephone Books on my shelves so I should probably get to those first!

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    1. Iliana, I've been focusing on my shelves a lot this past year. It's quite satisfying to see some space opening up on those shelves since I haven't bought any new books in quite some time. Good luck with your Persephone Books. They're quite lovely, aren't they?

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  4. We read that together!! And as so often happened to us, I absolutely loved it. Haha. I found my note about it:
    I read Diary Of A Provincial Lady. I will talk more about it in
    our discussions, but I gave it an A+ in my journal. It was the purest
    pleasure for me while I was reading it. It is much like my own life
    these 70 years later.

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    1. Nan, I remember that we read this together! I also remember that you love it. :) I wonder if I would enjoy it more now?

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