E. M. Delafield: Collected Novels (ePub)

"Zella Sees Herself" (1915) - Zella is a beautiful orphan who must come to terms with her mother's death in a largely hostile world. The Novel is largely autobiographical and the first written work of E. M. Delafield. "The War-Workers" (1918) - The travails of working in a Supply Depot under the tyrannical control of Charmain Vivian, who meets her match in a newly arrived clergyman's daughter Grace Jones. "Consequences" (1919) - A young woman entering a convent. Its heroine, Alex Clare, refuses to marry the only young man to make her an offer of marriage, and, finding herself regarded as a failure by society, must resort to convent life. "Tension" (1920) - Pauline Marchrose is a successful candidate, a woman claiming to be 28 but probably in her early thirties, when women are only beginning to fight for their rights and for equal opportunities. "The Heel of Achilles" (1921) - A middle-class young woman Lydia Raymond who intends to marry "above her" during the first world war in England while her daughter Jane rebels against her. "Humbug: A Study in Education" (1922) - The protagonist Lilly is a charming character who in spite of believing in the goodness of things is bogged down by her family and society to conform. E. M. Delafield (1890-1943) was a prolific English author. She is best known for her largely autobiographical works like Zella Sees Herself, The Provincial Lady Series etc. which look at the lives of upper-middle class Englishwomen.