Book no.4 has found its way into my house, helped (as with the Richmal Crompton Roofs Off!, Book no.1) by my abebooks 'want' alert. I love EM Delafield (you can read my thoughts about three of her books here) and have amassed quite a collection of her novels - quite a few unread, but nice to know that the store is there for a bit of indulgence now and then, the most recent being Nothing is Safe, which I'll write about before too long. One I didn't have is No One Now Will Know - and, consequently, it is one I *do* now have!I don't know a lot about the novel, but this wonderful and reliable EMD website says "A decidedly bleak book in which Fred and Lucian (Lucy) both love Rosalie. The title is a quotation from the Irish poem 'The Glens of Antrim" No one now will know, which of them loved her the most". He hasn't actually read this one, if I interpret the asterisk correctly, so perhaps his information comes from Violet Powell's occasionally underwhelming biography The Life of a Provincial Lady. And I can't really imagine that EM Delafield could be completely bleak if she tried - even in her bleakest novels, like Consequences, there are flashes of humour.
So, there you have it - book number four, and one of the most melodic titles I've ever come across.
Hi Simon.
ReplyDeleteI have only read 'Provincial Lady' and found it a funny, light-hearted read. I have her daughter's book on my shelf and am looking to read more of the Provincial Lady series in future. Thank you for highlighting these gems. I look forward to your review and your take on the 'bleakness'.
Regards,
Cristina.
I've only read Delafield's Provincial Lady books but loved them and am certainly planning to work my way through more of her novels in the future. Interested to hear what you think of this one!
ReplyDeleteThat one doesn't surprise me - lucky you! I loved Consequences and would love to read more of her.
ReplyDeleteDid you not think, if only for 1/125th of a second at f11, that a title such as No One Now Will Know could have slipped onto your shelves, uncounted?
ReplyDeleteMmmm remember that February is the shortest month and that if you don't keep to your 2 a month rule now, you won't make it to the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteBe strong, be very very strong!
I'm still on the lookout here for a copy of 'Provincial Lady' to introduce myself to EMD. Fourth book and only 1/2 way through February? I'm with ovw, be strong! Of course, that's easy for me to say -- in NOT shopping for myself, my children are each getting a small stack of books for Valentines! (Thank goodness gifts don't count.) :)
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading my first EM Delafield and reviewed it today! I agree with ctussaud that with this title you could have slipped it on your shelves unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice but you have got thorugh four very swiftly so far havent you? But then if books like this are the reason wy its fully understandable.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished reading Late and Soon, which was an Oxfam find; it hasn't stood the test of time as well as Provincial Lady ... but it's quite racy for EMD. Imagine the provincial lady, only now her daughter's grown up and jumping into bed with older men. Reminded me a bit of Saplings or In Bed with Grand Music.
ReplyDeleteThat was the first non-PL EMD I read, Late and Soon, and I was rather surprised! It was also the second novel in a row I read where women had Chinese shawls which got caught in the backs of chairs - and I started to think this must have been epidemic in the period! Not come across it in any novel since...
ReplyDeleteSimon S - I thought I was doing rather well!
ReplyDeleteRochester Reader - you haveanother treat in store!
Shocking, wasn't it ... affairs with handsome colonels instead of cocoa and buns at the WI! And EMD a former nun (well, nearly!)
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