Evening star., 1932-01-09
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Bookloper

Except to those tnalienably welded
to the mystery story as a means Of
literary diversion, the DIARY of a
Provincial Lady" by E. M. Delafield,
may be recommended as providing a
maximum amount Of amusement In
the form of humorous reflections on
the foibles and weaknesses of human
nature. There is no intense and i'm
probable plot; there are no criminal
characters, there Is no clever, 1mpoS-
Sible detective. The writer of the diary
Is quite average woman, leading an
average life, which she enlivenS by her
method Of recording it and by her
comments on herself and her neigh
bors. She is the wife of the agent for
the estate of Lady B, near Ply
mouth, England. Her husband, Robert,
is very phlegmatic, very English, inter-
ested in estate management and the
London Times, and in very little be
school, from which he returns home
for frequent holidays. Her small
daughter Vicky inhabits the nursery
with her French governess. Her
neighbors include Lady B, the
vicar and his wife, old Mrs. Blenkin-
sop and her daughter Barbara and
Cousin Maud" the Kellways, and the
Whites. There are also her old school
friends, Cissie Crabbe and Rose, a
childless widow whom, in depressed
moments, the provincial lady enyies.
Cook and the parlcr maid, for both
OF whom the lady" has considerable
respect and fear, figure frequently In
the diary.
The provincial LADY, has humor,
| literary toct int in npnnlp
modicum of executive ability, none Of
which finds much outlet in her country
| life. Yet she is not really discontented,
and domestic and neighborhood up
heavals prevent her life from degener-
ating into a routine affair. At intervals
she escapes to London to visit her
friend Rose in her well appointed apart
ment and to cheer herself by new
gown, a course of beauty treatments
and a dinner with Roses literary
feminist friends After an attack of
measles, which the doctor and all her
! country friends assure her Is always
! hard for one Of her age, she has two
weeks at Bude; and on one occasion,
after legacy to her husband from his
| godfather, she goes with Rose to the
South of France and has the carefully
concealed pleasure Of letting Lady B
know that she also can visit the fashion,
able Riviera. Lady B asks her why
she has chosen the wrong season, the
! Summer, to go. Most of the 'lady's"
days, however, are spent in aSsuaging
the ire of Cook" because the stove
needs visit from the Sweep" or the
family is tired Of minced beef, colored
| jellieS and Stewed prunes as a diet; in
attending meetings of the women's in
stitutes; in having fetes on her tennis
lawn for the benefit of village improve
ments; in attending stupid dinner par
ties at Lady BIS; in persuading the
bank again to overlook her oyerdraWn
account. She receives little help or
| sympathy in her petty problems from
her husband, but one notices that he is
reliable and serves as a steadying
! background. AS Lady B says, he
! is "a safe, respectable husband for any
woman Following the entry in the
diary recording this remark the
! provincial lady" writes: Give her
briefly 10 understand that Robert is in
reality a compound of Don Juan, the
! Marquis de Sade and Dr. Crippen but
| that we do not care to let it be known
locally
The entries in the diary about Rob-
ert and the children are among the
most interesting. kilograms announce
| the arrival of School Friend CisSie
| Crabbe and Friend Rose at about the
same time, and the country house
boasts but one spare room for guests
! There is a diary entry: Robert does
not seem pleased when I explain that
/ he will have to vacate his dressing room
| for Cissie Cradle, as Rose will be occupy
ing spare bed room" The entry frequent
| ly recurs: Robert reads the Times after
dinner and goes to sleep" That Rob-
| ert is not, in his wife's eyes, modern"
appears throughout many entries.
Robert, unfortunately, comes in Just
as am using brand-new and expensive
| lipstick and objects strongly to result.
| Query: If Robert could be induced to
go to London rather oftener, would he
perhaps take a broader view of these
things?)." Robert is 100 per cent Eng
lish. Rose staying here two days be-
fore going on to London. Says all
American houses are always warm,
which annoys Robert. He says in re-
| turn that all American houses are
grossly overheated and entirely airless.
! Impossible not to feel that this would
carry more weight if Robert had ever
! been to America. Rose also very insis-
tent about efficiency Of American tele-
| phone service, and inclined to ask for
which Robert does not approve Of"
From time to time Robert complains
about his food. Robert, this morning,
complains of insufficient breakfast
| Cannot feel that porridge, scrambled
eggs, toast, marmalade, scones, brown
bread and coffee give adequate grounds
| for this, but admit that porridge is
slightly burnt" Robin and Vickey are
quite normal children, giving their
mother occasion for frequent apologies
Xmas day-Festive, but exhausting
with everything and spend much of the
day eating. Vickey presents her Aunt
Angela with small square Of canvas on
which blue donkey Is worked in cross
| stitch. Do not know whether to apol-
ogise for this or not, but eventually
decide better to say nothing and hint
| to mademoiSelle that other design might
| have been preferable" Visits to
Robins school and attempts to find
out how he is getting on and what be-
comes of all his handkerchiefs are
now completely restored back to school
ask the headmaster what he thinks
of his progress. The headmaSter an
swers that the new buildings will be
| finished before Easter and that their
numbers are increasing so rapidly that
he will probably add on a new wing
next term, and perhaps saw letter
of his in the Times replying to DR..
| Cyril Norwood? Make mental note to
| the effect that headmasters are race
apart, and that If parents would re-
member this, much time could be
saved"
| X
Alfred de Musset, who in his 46 years
Of life acquired a permanent place in
French literature and in nineteenth
century poetry, is described by Henry
Dwight SedgWick in his biography,
Alfred de Musset," as one of the three
great European poets of sorrow. The
others are Keats and Leopard. "Of
the three, Keats, it will be asserted
by English readers, possessed the great
est genius and the most finished art:
I eorardi iS think the rnnSt ronin.,n,,+