E. M. Delafield

E. M. Delafield, pen name for Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (1890–1943), was an illustrious English author best known for her wittily incisive portrayal of middle-class life in the early 20th century. Daughter of the novelist Mrs. Henry de la Pasture, Delafield began her literary career following service in the Voluntary Aid Detachment during World War I. With a deft pen, she invites her readers into the introspective lives of her characters, exploring themes of domesticity, social stratification, and womanhood. Delafield's most celebrated work, 'Diary of a Provincial Lady' (1930), chronicles the comically trivial tribulations of a country housewife, establishing her legacy as a preeminent figure in British humor and literature. Her work 'Late & Soon' (1943) marks another significant entry in her oeuvre, where she adeptly examines the nuanced shifts in the societal landscape of post-war England through the personal and emotional reckonings of her protagonists. Delafield's literary style, characterized by its acerbic wit and keen observational acumen, secures her a distinguished position amidst the canon of female writers who masterfully articulated the undercurrents of the interwar period in British society.