The Diary of a Provincial Lady, by E.M. Delafield (Virago, £8.99 in UK)

The Provincial Lady's life, recorded in her diaries with the kind of superbly understated humour that only an English writer could pull off, is a gentle whirl of tennis teas, the laundry, trips to the Boots lending library and problems with the domestic staff, punctuated by visits from Our Vicar's Wife. Beneath her self-deprecating scattiness, how ever, lies a will of iron; despite a constant acute shortage of cash and the constant lack of interest of her husband, who emerges from behind his copy of The Times to make occasional scathing criticisms, the Provincial Lady copes, and copes admirably. She could hardly, in her boxed-in world, be farther removed from that contemporary comic diary phenomenon, Bridget Jones; yet the tone is remarkably similar. This generous volume contains a total of four novels, which is perhaps more PL than the average reader can cope with in one sitting, but this is a book to return to for comfort and cheer.