Shorter Notices
The Provincial Lady in War-Time. By E. M. Delafleld. (Macmillan. 75. 6d.)
WAR-TIME finds the Provincial Lady in pretty good form. She starts the war in Devonshire, and, having had time to observe and record the surprising effects of war conditions upon the population, migrates to London patriotically in search of work. Of ;he sort of work that she is looking for there is, of course, none to be had, as she is assured by a long series of officials and persons in touch with officials. She manages, however, to get her services accepted as voluntary helper in an A.R.P. canteen at Charing Cross, and of her col- leagues she produces a collection of admirably malicious sketches. The great thing about the Provincial Lady is that nothing can get her down : she thrives on inconveniences, records the rebuffs administered by officialdom with exactly the same gaiety that she gives to descriptions of the antics of the most eccentric of her colleagues, and when she is finally informed that her services, in a more suitable capacity, may after all be required, professes herself as much staggered as pleased. Her latest book, the lightest of reading, is perfect literature for anyone who wants merely to be diverted— pluperfect perhaps for brains temporarily weakened by the ravages of influenza.
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