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Tension
Miss Pauline Marchrose arrives at the Commercial and Technical College of South-West England as the new Lady Superintendent. But Lady Edna Rossiter, the wife of the college director, Sir Julian, recognizes her name as the woman who broke off an engagement with her cousin. She starts a whispering campaign against Miss Marchrose that casts doubt on her character and undermines her position at the college, which is further fueled by Miss Marchrose’s growing attachment to Sir Julian’s agent, Mark Easter, who is married. Tension examines reputation and the persistence of gossip in relation to a woman’s choice of work and domestic arrangements with a light touch of humor. The two main female characters represent the different roles of women in public life. Lady Rossiter uses her social position to influence college matters, while Miss Marchrose is a professional woman who brings qualifications and experience to her role.
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1920
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209 people want to read
About the author
E.M. Delafield
156 books149 followersEdmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (9 June 1890 – 2 December 1943), commonly known as E. M. Delafield, was a prolific English author who is best-known for her largely autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady, which took the form of a journal of the life of an upper-middle class Englishwoman living mostly in a Devon village of the 1930s, and its sequels in which the Provincial Lady buys a flat in London and travels to America. Other sequels of note are her experiences looking for war-work during the Phoney War in 1939, and her experiences as a tourist in the Soviet Union.
Daughter of the novelist Mrs. Henry De La Pasture.
Daughter of the novelist Mrs. Henry De La Pasture.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 4, 2022
I learned in the preface to this novel the following:
• ‘Homes for inebriates’ are waning in the 1920s. Many opened in response to the Inebriates Act of 1898, which allowed ‘habitual drunkards’ to be compulsorily admitted for one to three years, or longer for voluntary ‘patients’. Between 1899 and 1910, 84 per cent of those compulsorily committed were women. The Mental Deficiency Act 1913 superseded the Inebriates Act, reclassifying ‘habitual drunkards’ as mentally ill. ...
I was amazed at the preponderance of females getting admitted against their will to such institutions. Certainly females had not cornered the market over men on problem-drinking and alcoholism. But they are the ones that got committed. 🙁
So, the novel is actually not about that. A wife of one of the characters, Mark Easter, was in such an institution leaving him and governesses to raise their two small (bratty) children. There was no indication that she would get released any time soon.
He works at a school in southwest England in which students learn shorthand and typewriting for secretarial jobs. One of the teachers is a Miss Marchrose. She is recently arrived on the scene. Two other characters in the novel are the director of the school, Sir Julian Rossiter, and his wife, Lady Edna Rossiter. It turns out that a Miss Marchrose had jilted Lady Rossiter’s cousin a number of years back. And Lady Rossiter finds out that it’s the same Miss Marchrose at the school who jilted her cousin. She has a bug up her butt about that, especially when she finds out that Miss Marchrose is spending an inordinate amount for time with Mark Easter, who is still technically still married to his wife, who is stuck in the institution for inebriates. She reasons that if Miss Marchrose jilted her cousin, then she probably has designs on Mark Easter.
Lady Rossiter is not a nice woman. I was rooting for Miss Marchrose to “win” in the end because Lady Rossiter was portrayed throughout the novel as a malevolent grade-A bitch.
This was a re-issue by the British Library Women Writers series. I have read several titles in their series and overall like them very much. I would put them on the same level as Persephone Books and Virago Modern Classics, both of which have oftentimes brought women writers of the late 19th century and 20th century version who were long forgotten back into existence by re-issuing their works of fiction.
Reviews
• Excellent review...she caught a lot of things I missed, but only read this review after you read the book, because she essentially tells you the whole story in her review (she thoughtfully tells people she is giving a spoiler review)! https://katevane.com/2021/07/19/spoil...
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2021/...
• https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
• ‘Homes for inebriates’ are waning in the 1920s. Many opened in response to the Inebriates Act of 1898, which allowed ‘habitual drunkards’ to be compulsorily admitted for one to three years, or longer for voluntary ‘patients’. Between 1899 and 1910, 84 per cent of those compulsorily committed were women. The Mental Deficiency Act 1913 superseded the Inebriates Act, reclassifying ‘habitual drunkards’ as mentally ill. ...
I was amazed at the preponderance of females getting admitted against their will to such institutions. Certainly females had not cornered the market over men on problem-drinking and alcoholism. But they are the ones that got committed. 🙁
So, the novel is actually not about that. A wife of one of the characters, Mark Easter, was in such an institution leaving him and governesses to raise their two small (bratty) children. There was no indication that she would get released any time soon.
He works at a school in southwest England in which students learn shorthand and typewriting for secretarial jobs. One of the teachers is a Miss Marchrose. She is recently arrived on the scene. Two other characters in the novel are the director of the school, Sir Julian Rossiter, and his wife, Lady Edna Rossiter. It turns out that a Miss Marchrose had jilted Lady Rossiter’s cousin a number of years back. And Lady Rossiter finds out that it’s the same Miss Marchrose at the school who jilted her cousin. She has a bug up her butt about that, especially when she finds out that Miss Marchrose is spending an inordinate amount for time with Mark Easter, who is still technically still married to his wife, who is stuck in the institution for inebriates. She reasons that if Miss Marchrose jilted her cousin, then she probably has designs on Mark Easter.
Lady Rossiter is not a nice woman. I was rooting for Miss Marchrose to “win” in the end because Lady Rossiter was portrayed throughout the novel as a malevolent grade-A bitch.
This was a re-issue by the British Library Women Writers series. I have read several titles in their series and overall like them very much. I would put them on the same level as Persephone Books and Virago Modern Classics, both of which have oftentimes brought women writers of the late 19th century and 20th century version who were long forgotten back into existence by re-issuing their works of fiction.
Reviews
• Excellent review...she caught a lot of things I missed, but only read this review after you read the book, because she essentially tells you the whole story in her review (she thoughtfully tells people she is giving a spoiler review)! https://katevane.com/2021/07/19/spoil...
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2021/...
• https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
May 17, 2021
An interesting study of the tensions caused in a small community when one woman starts a whispering campaign against another.
When Miss Marchrose applies for a job at a technical college, she is unfortunate that Lady Edna Rossita, the wife of one of the directors, recognises her name as the woman who jilted her cousin after he had an accident which threatened to leave him paralysed; she takes against her there and then. Miss Marchrose gets the job, but from then on, Lady Rossiter does everything in her power to get rid of her, and since she doesn't actually have much power the only thing she can do is try to turn her collegues against her; this is made easier for her when Miss Marchrose becomes attracted to Mark, who is married to an alcoholic who stays in a sanitorium.
Most of the characters are unsypathetic and it's impossible to warm to them, but the story told is quite compelling.
When Miss Marchrose applies for a job at a technical college, she is unfortunate that Lady Edna Rossita, the wife of one of the directors, recognises her name as the woman who jilted her cousin after he had an accident which threatened to leave him paralysed; she takes against her there and then. Miss Marchrose gets the job, but from then on, Lady Rossiter does everything in her power to get rid of her, and since she doesn't actually have much power the only thing she can do is try to turn her collegues against her; this is made easier for her when Miss Marchrose becomes attracted to Mark, who is married to an alcoholic who stays in a sanitorium.
Most of the characters are unsypathetic and it's impossible to warm to them, but the story told is quite compelling.
April 20, 2022
The English writer E. M. Delafield is probably best known for her Diary of a Provincial Lady, a largely autobiographical account of middle-class life in the early 1930s. Tension is an earlier book, first published in 1920 when Britain was still recovering from the impact of the First World War. It’s an interesting story about the damaging effects of gossip – how hard-won reputations can be destroyed by malicious rumours, especially when a manipulative person is involved. On another level, the novel also highlights the limited options available to single women with no husband or family to support them in financing their day-to-day existence.
The novel’s title refers to the tensions created by a new appointment at a Commercial and Technical College in the South West – the main setting for Delafield’s story. As an experienced teacher of shorthand and typing, twenty-eight-year-old Miss Marchrose is well qualified for the role of Lady Superintendent. However, her card is marked when the College Director’s wife – the poisonous Lady Edna Rossiter – recognises Miss Marchrose’s name from an unfortunate incident in the past. Some years earlier, Lady Rossiter’s cousin, Clarence Isbister, was jilted by his fiancée following a life-changing accident – an incident that caused both Clarence and Lady Rossiter considerable distress at the time. Given the unusual nature of Miss Marchrose’s name, Lady Rossiter is convinced that the new Superintendent is the woman who slighted her cousin, so she sets out to ruin her reputation in the most underhand of ways.
Nevertheless, Miss Marchrose proves herself to be hardworking, capable and well-organised – qualities appreciated by College Supervisor Fairfax Fuller, a blunt, plain-speaking man who dislikes any outside interference in his activities, especially from Lady R. Sir Julian Rossiter, the College Director, also takes kindly to Miss Marchrose, viewing her as a good addition to the institution’s staff. But when the new appointee develops a close friendship with Mark Easter, the agent for Sir Julian’s estate, Lady Rossiter sees her chance. As the friendship between Mark and Miss Marchrose blossoms, showing every potential to develop into a romance, Lady Rossiter begins to draw attention to it, dropping carefully-worded hints to other trustees and staff.
“Yes, poor Miss Marchrose. Don’t think that I would willingly say an unkind word about her, for indeed I could never cast the first stone. But I’ve been uneasy for some time, and this afternoon it gave me a little shock to see something—Oh, never mind what! A straw very often shows which way the wind blows.”
Having by this reticence left the simple-minded Alderman to infer the existence of a whole truss of straw at the very least, Lady Rossiter leant back and closed her eyes, as though in weary retrospect. (p. 145)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
The novel’s title refers to the tensions created by a new appointment at a Commercial and Technical College in the South West – the main setting for Delafield’s story. As an experienced teacher of shorthand and typing, twenty-eight-year-old Miss Marchrose is well qualified for the role of Lady Superintendent. However, her card is marked when the College Director’s wife – the poisonous Lady Edna Rossiter – recognises Miss Marchrose’s name from an unfortunate incident in the past. Some years earlier, Lady Rossiter’s cousin, Clarence Isbister, was jilted by his fiancée following a life-changing accident – an incident that caused both Clarence and Lady Rossiter considerable distress at the time. Given the unusual nature of Miss Marchrose’s name, Lady Rossiter is convinced that the new Superintendent is the woman who slighted her cousin, so she sets out to ruin her reputation in the most underhand of ways.
Nevertheless, Miss Marchrose proves herself to be hardworking, capable and well-organised – qualities appreciated by College Supervisor Fairfax Fuller, a blunt, plain-speaking man who dislikes any outside interference in his activities, especially from Lady R. Sir Julian Rossiter, the College Director, also takes kindly to Miss Marchrose, viewing her as a good addition to the institution’s staff. But when the new appointee develops a close friendship with Mark Easter, the agent for Sir Julian’s estate, Lady Rossiter sees her chance. As the friendship between Mark and Miss Marchrose blossoms, showing every potential to develop into a romance, Lady Rossiter begins to draw attention to it, dropping carefully-worded hints to other trustees and staff.
“Yes, poor Miss Marchrose. Don’t think that I would willingly say an unkind word about her, for indeed I could never cast the first stone. But I’ve been uneasy for some time, and this afternoon it gave me a little shock to see something—Oh, never mind what! A straw very often shows which way the wind blows.”
Having by this reticence left the simple-minded Alderman to infer the existence of a whole truss of straw at the very least, Lady Rossiter leant back and closed her eyes, as though in weary retrospect. (p. 145)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
September 16, 2016
I just completed a recording of this book for Librivox, and really enjoyed it. Delafield should be known for more than her 'Diary of a Provincial Lady'.
When the role of ‘Lady Superintendent’ becomes available at the Commercial and Technical College for South West England, the calm and capable Pauline Marchrose is the successful applicant. This is good news for Sir Julian, the college director, who greatly admires her diligence and ability. Mark Easter, Sir Julian’s agent, feels admiration for her too, which rapidly becomes romantic attraction. But Mark already has a wife, albeit in name only. And Sir Julian’s wife, Lady Edna Rossiter, discovers that Pauline Marchrose is the same woman who jilted her cousin Clarence after he was paralysed in an accident. A manipulative,self-righteous and interfering woman, she has little interest in the truth of the story, and she uses her position and influence to start a whispering campaign against Pauline. In a small community this soon creates an atmosphere of suspicion and tension which threatens her whole future.
Delafield's real strength lies in her characterisation. Edna Rossiter is the kind of woman you really want to slap, with her platitudes, her condescending manner, and her astonishing hypocrisy. One feels a great deal of sympathy for her husband, who loathes meddling and judgment of others, but is trapped in a marriage with someone who lives for both of these things. His response is to retreat into silence, even when it affects the lives of those for whom he has great affection - I found myself getting very annoyed with his passivity at times. There are several minor characters as well who greatly add to the enjoyment of the novel. All are developed with judicious use of Delafield's deliciously sarcastic humour, although there are some moving moments in the book too, and you get the sense that all of them, in their own way, are trapped by circumstance.
If you like audiobooks, my librivox recording (free to download) is here.
https://archive.org/details/tension_1...
When the role of ‘Lady Superintendent’ becomes available at the Commercial and Technical College for South West England, the calm and capable Pauline Marchrose is the successful applicant. This is good news for Sir Julian, the college director, who greatly admires her diligence and ability. Mark Easter, Sir Julian’s agent, feels admiration for her too, which rapidly becomes romantic attraction. But Mark already has a wife, albeit in name only. And Sir Julian’s wife, Lady Edna Rossiter, discovers that Pauline Marchrose is the same woman who jilted her cousin Clarence after he was paralysed in an accident. A manipulative,self-righteous and interfering woman, she has little interest in the truth of the story, and she uses her position and influence to start a whispering campaign against Pauline. In a small community this soon creates an atmosphere of suspicion and tension which threatens her whole future.
Delafield's real strength lies in her characterisation. Edna Rossiter is the kind of woman you really want to slap, with her platitudes, her condescending manner, and her astonishing hypocrisy. One feels a great deal of sympathy for her husband, who loathes meddling and judgment of others, but is trapped in a marriage with someone who lives for both of these things. His response is to retreat into silence, even when it affects the lives of those for whom he has great affection - I found myself getting very annoyed with his passivity at times. There are several minor characters as well who greatly add to the enjoyment of the novel. All are developed with judicious use of Delafield's deliciously sarcastic humour, although there are some moving moments in the book too, and you get the sense that all of them, in their own way, are trapped by circumstance.
If you like audiobooks, my librivox recording (free to download) is here.
https://archive.org/details/tension_1...
June 25, 2021
Marriage, morality, and mischief
Tension is a story about self-righteousness and the catastrophic results of imposing someone’s debatable morality on others.
Edna, Lady Lassiter, was in a feelingless marriage with Sir Julian, a man ten years her senior whose take on life was to stay away from all possible drama, especially when coming from his wife.
Frustrated with her irresponsive husband, Edna tried to fulfill her idle life by helping others reach her enlightenment level.
When a young and competent woman, Pauline Marchrose, came to work at the charity college run by the Lassiters, Edna felt threatened. She did anything in her power to ruin Pauline’s reputation and get rid of the newcomer.
Edna’s obliviousness to her flaws, her conviction in her rectitude, and her misguided belief in the good cause behind her actions made her an extraordinary character.
Pauline was also a complex character. On one side, she was competent, hard-working, and loyal, but on the other, she was self-centered and naive.
The side characters were, except for Mr. Fuller, weak-willed or, at least, indifferent. Several people, including Sir Julian, saw precisely what Lady Lassiter’s intentions were and chose not to get involved or outright join the moral squad.
The end was surprising and, in my opinion, perfect. I felt that Pauline probably ended up being the happiest of them all.
In the background, several relevant subjects were discussed: (a) the involuntary (and definitive) admission of women to mental institutions (in the book, due to alcoholism); (b) the delicate position held by women in the workplace and the double standards to which they were submitted in comparison to their male coworkers; and also, (c) the entitlement of the elites and their patronizing and prejudiced behavior toward the working class.
Overall, Tension was a great story, an intriguing view of the English society in the 20s. I read it all in one sit!
The book is part of the beautiful Women Writers Series published by the British Library. I had the opportunity of reading several titles in this series and highly recommend them all.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
*For more reviews, book art, and book-related articles, please visit https://lureviewsbooks.com *
Tension is a story about self-righteousness and the catastrophic results of imposing someone’s debatable morality on others.
Edna, Lady Lassiter, was in a feelingless marriage with Sir Julian, a man ten years her senior whose take on life was to stay away from all possible drama, especially when coming from his wife.
Frustrated with her irresponsive husband, Edna tried to fulfill her idle life by helping others reach her enlightenment level.
When a young and competent woman, Pauline Marchrose, came to work at the charity college run by the Lassiters, Edna felt threatened. She did anything in her power to ruin Pauline’s reputation and get rid of the newcomer.
Edna’s obliviousness to her flaws, her conviction in her rectitude, and her misguided belief in the good cause behind her actions made her an extraordinary character.
Pauline was also a complex character. On one side, she was competent, hard-working, and loyal, but on the other, she was self-centered and naive.
The side characters were, except for Mr. Fuller, weak-willed or, at least, indifferent. Several people, including Sir Julian, saw precisely what Lady Lassiter’s intentions were and chose not to get involved or outright join the moral squad.
The end was surprising and, in my opinion, perfect. I felt that Pauline probably ended up being the happiest of them all.
In the background, several relevant subjects were discussed: (a) the involuntary (and definitive) admission of women to mental institutions (in the book, due to alcoholism); (b) the delicate position held by women in the workplace and the double standards to which they were submitted in comparison to their male coworkers; and also, (c) the entitlement of the elites and their patronizing and prejudiced behavior toward the working class.
Overall, Tension was a great story, an intriguing view of the English society in the 20s. I read it all in one sit!
The book is part of the beautiful Women Writers Series published by the British Library. I had the opportunity of reading several titles in this series and highly recommend them all.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
*For more reviews, book art, and book-related articles, please visit https://lureviewsbooks.com *
May 1, 2020
This novel consists entirely of offensively unpleasant characters. One is hypocritical, another brusque and callous - both care little for the feelings of others, but one is at least honest about it. Sir Julian attempts to be detached from both sides but is snide and dismissive towards his wife and presents an odd sort of confidant for a weeping young woman so is hardly impartial. The only superficially charming character is weak and ineffectual - he stands to lose more than most from the situation but could easily have avoided any taint of scandal by behaving less self-indulgently.
The author clearly sympathises with Miss Marchrose. She is authentic, to use Sartre's term. She acts according to her instincts of decency rather than according to a petty bourgeois code of propriety. Lady Rossiter is the opposite - she can never honestly analyse her own motives, or the admit the effect her words have on others without hiding behind a mantra: "is it kind? is it wise? is it true?". According to her interpretation, she never puts into words any charge against Miss Marchrose but successfully engineers a whispering campaign of insubstantial allegations, claiming only that she was trying to save Mark from a scandal with a martyred air of noblesse oblige.
The plot seems insubstantial but effectively shows how societal norms can be enforced against those who try to ignore or defy them. Miss Marchrose is better off without her married lover who was petty bourgeois enough to be afraid of the social consequences of an illicit affair, even though she would have faced her critics unflinchingly had she had his support.
There are some comic scenes in the book, such as the wedding speeches and the children eating far too much cake at tea. Yet overall the author is rooting for characters who don't deserve her approval which makes this an unsatisfying book. They all contribute to the situation each in their separate ways - by hypocrisy, aloofness, fear. The final fate of Miss Marchrose seems to me to be entirely inauthentic when she agrees to marry a lesser character when she has hardly finished weeping for her former love.
August 12, 2021
Tension
I would pick E.M. Delafield over Jane Austen based on this book alone.
Witty and insightful, Ms. Delafield's writing is lucid and evenly paced.
The seeds of "tension" were sown when Miss. Pauline Marchrose happened to be offered the position of Lady Superintendent in a college of repute in South West England. She had once been engaged to be married to a cousin of Lady Edna Rossiter- wife of the Director of the college.
Ms. Marchrose, diligent and efficient at her job was singled out for reasons that had no bearing on her professional performance. Ironically, the older woman responsible for planting suspicions and starting off malicious rumors to achieve her purpose of ousting Ms. Marchrose from her position, swore by the noble doctrine of "loving kindness".
Ms. Marchrose brazenly assumed responsibility for the choices she made even when they were contrary to convention and codes of expected and accepted morality. This also made her vulnerable on various levels.
Sir Julian's sardonic responses to his spouse's self-edifying ideals and deliberate manipulations, made me chuckle. The other favorite was Mr. Fuller, the senior College Supervisor who doggedly locked horns with Lady Rossiter in his querencia.
A cast of well-etched out characters contributed to the developments.
There was an unexpected turn of events revealed in the post-script and the writer won my admiration all the more for it.
The author's insight into human motivations is incisive and revealing.
Also, I did not "read" the book but listened to a #Librivox recording by a reader who possesses exceptional narrative skill - Ms. Helen Taylor.
#classic #integrity #sarcasm #witty #helentaylor #Librivox
I would pick E.M. Delafield over Jane Austen based on this book alone.
Witty and insightful, Ms. Delafield's writing is lucid and evenly paced.
The seeds of "tension" were sown when Miss. Pauline Marchrose happened to be offered the position of Lady Superintendent in a college of repute in South West England. She had once been engaged to be married to a cousin of Lady Edna Rossiter- wife of the Director of the college.
Ms. Marchrose, diligent and efficient at her job was singled out for reasons that had no bearing on her professional performance. Ironically, the older woman responsible for planting suspicions and starting off malicious rumors to achieve her purpose of ousting Ms. Marchrose from her position, swore by the noble doctrine of "loving kindness".
Ms. Marchrose brazenly assumed responsibility for the choices she made even when they were contrary to convention and codes of expected and accepted morality. This also made her vulnerable on various levels.
Sir Julian's sardonic responses to his spouse's self-edifying ideals and deliberate manipulations, made me chuckle. The other favorite was Mr. Fuller, the senior College Supervisor who doggedly locked horns with Lady Rossiter in his querencia.
A cast of well-etched out characters contributed to the developments.
There was an unexpected turn of events revealed in the post-script and the writer won my admiration all the more for it.
The author's insight into human motivations is incisive and revealing.
Also, I did not "read" the book but listened to a #Librivox recording by a reader who possesses exceptional narrative skill - Ms. Helen Taylor.
#classic #integrity #sarcasm #witty #helentaylor #Librivox
May 21, 2018
E.M. Delafield's Tension had been sitting on my Kindle for well over a year before I decided to pick it up. It seems to be rather a neglected novel, but is quite highly praised nonetheless. I have enjoyed a couple of Delafield's standalone novels to date and, like many readers, very much enjoy her Provincial Lady novels. Delafield can certainly write, but Tension is such a slow starter. There was far too much dialogue and not enough description for my taste. I am all for novels where not a great deal happens, but I was not pulled in at all. I found the first couple of chapters rather dull, and decided to stop reading.
May 14, 2014
More like 4.5. Very, very good, and about how you can make a compelling narrative in which 'nothing happens': except, effectively, the creation of a toxic atmosphere of the unspoken does lead to action, even if it's only somebody leaving. Has one of the great self-righteous monster villains.
January 14, 2022
Having previously read and enjoyed "Consequences" and then "Diary of a Provincial Lady", all be it very different, "Tension" is yet another good read by Delafield.
This is a plot filled with "tension" created by whispers, comments and judgements made in a small community by women on women who have different views and approach to relationships in relation to victorian societal norms. Interesting characters with an interesting twist at the end.
This is a plot filled with "tension" created by whispers, comments and judgements made in a small community by women on women who have different views and approach to relationships in relation to victorian societal norms. Interesting characters with an interesting twist at the end.
February 10, 2011
I read it a few years ago when I was blessed with ILL, but as I recall it's a study of the tension created in a small community by rumours & backbiting. Interesting characters & a very satisfying conclusion.
July 19, 2021
I listened to the Librivox reading by Helen Taylor which beautifully brought to life both the humour and the darker elements of Tension.
I've written a discussion/review of Tension WITH SPOILERS on my blog https://katevane.com/2021/07/19/spoil...
I've written a discussion/review of Tension WITH SPOILERS on my blog https://katevane.com/2021/07/19/spoil...
June 19, 2021
I loved it. Kudos to British Library Women Writer Series for bringing this back. Such a fresh and modern novel, cannot believe it was written 100 years ago.
January 15, 2025
I really enjoyed Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady series, so I had high expectations for this novel, written quite a few years earlier. As hoped, it was a great read, with sharp dialog and unique characters. Her send-up of classism and snobbery is spot on. Lady Rossiter, for all her good intentions, was really despicable; I disliked her much more than the reviewers and bloggers who have written about this reissue. I thought she was utterly horrid, not just amusingly horrid.
August 3, 2022
“Yes, I know what you mean by that atmospheric tension- a sort of awful, unspoken sense of disaster and yet nothing happening. Only everything is happening, inside, and everyone knows it without being able to define it.”
✨Spoilers below✨
Lady Rossiter is the terrible villain of this sinister book. She and her husband are directors of a secretarial college in the south west of England in the 1920s. To this college comes the most excellent Miss Marchrose who excels in her position as Lady Superintendent. However, Lady Rossiter is against her from the moment she is appointed as Miss Marchrose once broke an engagement with a cousin of Lady Rossiter’s. Lady Rossiter also sees herself as the only womanly influence on a fellow board member, the handsome and well-liked Mark Easter who has two awful young children and an alcoholic wife who has been locked away in a hospital for alcoholics for years. Lady Rossiter uses societal norms and the power of suggestion and rumour to ensure that the beautiful relationship and love between Mark Easter and Miss Marchrose can not flourish, making this novel quite a depressing read. It does, however, throw light on the hypocrisy of marriage and the silliness of societal expectations in the 1920s which allowed such as Lady Rossiter to destroy the potential happiness of others.
It is a novel which has a lot of E. M. Delafield wit, especially in the relationship between Lord and Lady Rossiter whose marriage is one of convenience, rather than love. I loved the line: “perhaps the closest bond of union between Julian Rossiter and his wife now consisted in the common dismay which invaded them when Ruthie and Ambrose Easter thought fit to inflict themselves, uninvited, upon the Culmhayes establishment.”
A very well-written novel but one where I was rooting for the happy ending that could never be.
✨Spoilers below✨
Lady Rossiter is the terrible villain of this sinister book. She and her husband are directors of a secretarial college in the south west of England in the 1920s. To this college comes the most excellent Miss Marchrose who excels in her position as Lady Superintendent. However, Lady Rossiter is against her from the moment she is appointed as Miss Marchrose once broke an engagement with a cousin of Lady Rossiter’s. Lady Rossiter also sees herself as the only womanly influence on a fellow board member, the handsome and well-liked Mark Easter who has two awful young children and an alcoholic wife who has been locked away in a hospital for alcoholics for years. Lady Rossiter uses societal norms and the power of suggestion and rumour to ensure that the beautiful relationship and love between Mark Easter and Miss Marchrose can not flourish, making this novel quite a depressing read. It does, however, throw light on the hypocrisy of marriage and the silliness of societal expectations in the 1920s which allowed such as Lady Rossiter to destroy the potential happiness of others.
It is a novel which has a lot of E. M. Delafield wit, especially in the relationship between Lord and Lady Rossiter whose marriage is one of convenience, rather than love. I loved the line: “perhaps the closest bond of union between Julian Rossiter and his wife now consisted in the common dismay which invaded them when Ruthie and Ambrose Easter thought fit to inflict themselves, uninvited, upon the Culmhayes establishment.”
A very well-written novel but one where I was rooting for the happy ending that could never be.
June 15, 2021
Unwanted: Lady, Ignorant of Her Own Evil
Here, earlier in her writing career, E.M. Delafield, whose later, lighter PROVINCIAL LADY books delighted me, takes up an altogether more serious portrayal of another married woman at work in her own household. Delafield is a synonym for an author who is a woman and writes about women.
Lady Rossiter, though deliciously beautiful and of “good family,” had failed to choose a husband when she might have had a choice. Instead she comes to have no other choice but to accept the comfortable, privileged life and “companionship” offered to her in marrying Lord Rossiter. Lord Rossiter has made it plain to her that he is devoid of romantic feelings for her, indeed incapable of romantic feeling for anyone. He tells her he thinks they could be companionable and comfortable together in life.
As it turns out, Lord Rossiter thought wrong. His lack of romantic interest in Lady Rossiter only seems to render her entirely uninteresting and devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Of course, it’s probable that she started out that way; might she have improved slightly if she had married a different man? We have no answer.
As the years have gone on, Lord Rossiter has come to despise his wife with a kind of equanimity. Lady Rossiter has become a thwarted, hypocritical, worse than vacuous, yet unchangeably beautiful creature. She cannot be still within herself. She has no talent for sincerity. Her own egotism makes it so that she must intrude everywhere.
Delafield also gives us, as a foil, a younger, sadder lady, subtly and varyingly attractive, yet with an excellent mind and an extraordinarily entrancing voice. This younger lady has not had the societal advantages which Lady Rossiter has had. The younger lady has also come to have no matrimonial prospects, but none at all, not even one. This younger lady has had to go into a man’s world as a teacher of typing and shorthand at the technical school for whom Lord Rossiter is the patron.
Lady Rossiter’s husband is a charming man, deeply wise in his way, much respected and liked by all. Nonetheless, although he didn’t envision it, the marriage is as bad for his wife as it is for him. He is, at least, indifferent and detached while she is a highly emotional yet controlled, slow and devastating storm.
One of the themes of Delafield’s novel, though chiefly about
Lady Rossiter and the younger lady teacher, is the absolute indissolubility of marriage.
Lady Rossiter’s attraction to her husband’s assistant, seemingly unacknowledged to herself, to the most likable, kind and attractive man in their circle, who attracts everyone including Lord Rossiter, seems to drive her to an unbounded, secretive jealousy of that man’s particular liking for the teacher, the younger, less advantaged, more appealing woman.
Therein lies the overpowering “tension.”
Delafield also writes knowledgeably about men. The men in this novel have good qualities. Unfortunately, they are unfathomably weak. Except for one, an accountant and auditor at the technical school, by far the most unpleasant gentleman in the community.
How will he affect this “tension?”
Delafield is a gifted writer and is a leading member of the large, talented group of no longer overlooked interwar writers.
Here, earlier in her writing career, E.M. Delafield, whose later, lighter PROVINCIAL LADY books delighted me, takes up an altogether more serious portrayal of another married woman at work in her own household. Delafield is a synonym for an author who is a woman and writes about women.
Lady Rossiter, though deliciously beautiful and of “good family,” had failed to choose a husband when she might have had a choice. Instead she comes to have no other choice but to accept the comfortable, privileged life and “companionship” offered to her in marrying Lord Rossiter. Lord Rossiter has made it plain to her that he is devoid of romantic feelings for her, indeed incapable of romantic feeling for anyone. He tells her he thinks they could be companionable and comfortable together in life.
As it turns out, Lord Rossiter thought wrong. His lack of romantic interest in Lady Rossiter only seems to render her entirely uninteresting and devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Of course, it’s probable that she started out that way; might she have improved slightly if she had married a different man? We have no answer.
As the years have gone on, Lord Rossiter has come to despise his wife with a kind of equanimity. Lady Rossiter has become a thwarted, hypocritical, worse than vacuous, yet unchangeably beautiful creature. She cannot be still within herself. She has no talent for sincerity. Her own egotism makes it so that she must intrude everywhere.
Delafield also gives us, as a foil, a younger, sadder lady, subtly and varyingly attractive, yet with an excellent mind and an extraordinarily entrancing voice. This younger lady has not had the societal advantages which Lady Rossiter has had. The younger lady has also come to have no matrimonial prospects, but none at all, not even one. This younger lady has had to go into a man’s world as a teacher of typing and shorthand at the technical school for whom Lord Rossiter is the patron.
Lady Rossiter’s husband is a charming man, deeply wise in his way, much respected and liked by all. Nonetheless, although he didn’t envision it, the marriage is as bad for his wife as it is for him. He is, at least, indifferent and detached while she is a highly emotional yet controlled, slow and devastating storm.
One of the themes of Delafield’s novel, though chiefly about
Lady Rossiter and the younger lady teacher, is the absolute indissolubility of marriage.
Lady Rossiter’s attraction to her husband’s assistant, seemingly unacknowledged to herself, to the most likable, kind and attractive man in their circle, who attracts everyone including Lord Rossiter, seems to drive her to an unbounded, secretive jealousy of that man’s particular liking for the teacher, the younger, less advantaged, more appealing woman.
Therein lies the overpowering “tension.”
Delafield also writes knowledgeably about men. The men in this novel have good qualities. Unfortunately, they are unfathomably weak. Except for one, an accountant and auditor at the technical school, by far the most unpleasant gentleman in the community.
How will he affect this “tension?”
Delafield is a gifted writer and is a leading member of the large, talented group of no longer overlooked interwar writers.
November 8, 2023
Tension opens on one of the most humorous breakfast scenes I’ve ever read. The neighbour’s children bust in uninvited with with jam hands and loud voices to announce that their aunt has written a book.
‘“It’s called ‘Why, Ben!’ and it’s a Story of the Sexes,” glibly quoted that young lady, unaware of the shock inflicted by this brazen announcement, delivered at the top of her squeaky, nine-year-old voice.’
From the reaction this book title has on the adults, it’s no surprise that Tension isn’t a book about free love or the general acceptance of adultery in this small community.
This is a book about the destructive power of gossip and how the mere suggestion that wrong-doing might occur is enough to ruin a woman.
Miss Marchrose is hired as the Superintendent of an adult education college in the south west of England. But Lady Rossiter suspects Miss Marchrose is the same woman who broke an engagement with her cousin.
Lady Rossiter drove me distraction. The words she professes to live by, “Is it kind — is it wise — is it true?” inevitably ran through her mind whenever she was being particularly meddlesome. In my earlier post I made on Instagram about this book, I described her as calculating. That may not be entirely true. Even now, I can’t be sure if she was simply interfering to the extent that she believed her status allowed, or if she had more sinister motivations of which she was unaware.
Lady Rossiter’s unsatisfying marriage to a man who tolerates, but does not love her, seems as good excuse as any for her to fixate on the handsome neighbour, Mark Easter. Mark’s wife is what is referred to in the novel as a ‘dipsomaniac’ and she is being treated in a sanitarium. No mention is made of her ever returning home. Lady Rossiter takes it upon herself to insinuate herself into the inner workings of Mark’s family. Her husband, Sir Julian Rossiter, while more sympathetic, was fairly useless. I would love to tell you my thoughts on the rest of the characters, but I don’t want to inadvertently ruin any of the plot.
While less hilarious than I was expecting from the initial scenes, this book has all of E.M. Delafield’s acerbic wit that her readers of The Diary of a Provincial Lady will recognize, but with higher stakes and a lot more… well, tension. Yet another page-turner from the British Library Women Writers series!
‘“It’s called ‘Why, Ben!’ and it’s a Story of the Sexes,” glibly quoted that young lady, unaware of the shock inflicted by this brazen announcement, delivered at the top of her squeaky, nine-year-old voice.’
From the reaction this book title has on the adults, it’s no surprise that Tension isn’t a book about free love or the general acceptance of adultery in this small community.
This is a book about the destructive power of gossip and how the mere suggestion that wrong-doing might occur is enough to ruin a woman.
Miss Marchrose is hired as the Superintendent of an adult education college in the south west of England. But Lady Rossiter suspects Miss Marchrose is the same woman who broke an engagement with her cousin.
Lady Rossiter drove me distraction. The words she professes to live by, “Is it kind — is it wise — is it true?” inevitably ran through her mind whenever she was being particularly meddlesome. In my earlier post I made on Instagram about this book, I described her as calculating. That may not be entirely true. Even now, I can’t be sure if she was simply interfering to the extent that she believed her status allowed, or if she had more sinister motivations of which she was unaware.
Lady Rossiter’s unsatisfying marriage to a man who tolerates, but does not love her, seems as good excuse as any for her to fixate on the handsome neighbour, Mark Easter. Mark’s wife is what is referred to in the novel as a ‘dipsomaniac’ and she is being treated in a sanitarium. No mention is made of her ever returning home. Lady Rossiter takes it upon herself to insinuate herself into the inner workings of Mark’s family. Her husband, Sir Julian Rossiter, while more sympathetic, was fairly useless. I would love to tell you my thoughts on the rest of the characters, but I don’t want to inadvertently ruin any of the plot.
While less hilarious than I was expecting from the initial scenes, this book has all of E.M. Delafield’s acerbic wit that her readers of The Diary of a Provincial Lady will recognize, but with higher stakes and a lot more… well, tension. Yet another page-turner from the British Library Women Writers series!
December 15, 2023
I didn't start to enjoy this book until I was at least halfway through, but it was worth it for the insight into the decisions women had to make at the time concerning marriage and love. Delafiled does a great job of creating believable but original characters, so much so that, at times, it is almost painful (in a good way) to read Lady Rossiters' thoughts and dialogue. I think I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if it had been from Miss Marchroses point of view, but I understand that is not the point of the book. It's a good book, but not her best.
December 6, 2024
I noticed this title because it is part of the British Library Women Writers series. I didn't read the hard copy but listened to the LibriVox recording of this book. The LibriVox reader, Helen Taylor, was fantastic. She was expressive, dramatic, clear and absolutely convincing when voicing the different characters. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much without her gifted interpretation. Delafield's social satire and feeling for her characters is spot on. I've recently read other obscure titles from this time period that didn't hold up the way Tension did. There's a subtlety and wit in Delafield's writing that transcends the time in which it was written. Someone needs to write a prequel to this book where we find out what happened to Ruthie and Ambrose's mother.
SPOILER ALERT:
I won't get into specifics but I thought the resolution was abrupt and unsatisfying.
SPOILER ALERT:
I won't get into specifics but I thought the resolution was abrupt and unsatisfying.
May 18, 2021
One of the most frustrating books I have ever listened to, but that is a compliment because of course the characters were meant to be annoying, precious, prejudiced, hypocritical and so on. Delafield was brilliant at showing human nature with good and bad sides. None of the characters were fully likeable, which is true of real humans and that is in my opinion her genius. The plot is nothing new or challenging. The ending was unexpected but didn't do much for me anyway. I listened to the LibriVox recording by Helen Taylor and I strongly recommend it. You can find it for free on YouTube.
September 30, 2021
Read on kindle, spelling mistakes abound. An old fashioned novel about a whispering campaign instigated by the wife of one of the directors of a technical college towards the lady superintendent.
February 27, 2022
I think I discovered an unknown gem. An eloquent, witty and poignant read.
March 12, 2025
E. M. Delafield's "Tension" was published in 1920, after the war the convention versus free living in English college community. I had mixed feelings about what Edna Rossiter had done to cause tension in the school that her husband was the head administrator. She was an unlikable self righteous woman but her actions were not without benefit. The new generation and attitudes to free love versus marriage is quite interesting looking back.
Story in short- A new teacher has a past that cannot keep from seeping up and being critiqued.
Interesting how much London has changed 100 plus years later. "City of Freedom"
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 130
“We toilers and sowers gravitate to London instinctively. I always say,” Mr. Garrett observed, in tones of
great interest, “I always say, that London is the modern Mecca. Pilgrims come there from all parts. It is,
in many ways, a city of freedom. London, someone has said—the name of the writer has escaped my
memory—is the only capital in
Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 130
the world where a man can eat a penny bun in the streets without exciting comment. Now, that seems
to me quite extraordinarily descriptive.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Sir Julian doesn’t want to know what happens outside of school and rather turn a blind eye, though his demeanor has both Pauline and Iris confessing to him about themselves. Pauline tells why she left a cripled fiancé who said he loved her though he might have changed his mind and Pauline who did not love him and came to realize that marrying would be worse. Iris tells how she wanted her married brother Mark to have a love affair with Pauline. Edna felt everyone one was “poor” or misguided needing her help. She thought herself Mark’s proxy wife since his real wife is an alcoholic that was in a home. Edna started the rumors and ill will towards Pauline and having it work out from the tension and talk for Pauline to be fired. Fuller the supervisor had not wanted Pauline to quit but Sir Julian accepted and Pauline told him how she liked Mark and knew it would start talk but she cared for him and would have given him all but found out he rather not have a scene. So in this Edna helped an infidelity from happening that would only end in heartbreak. Edna had the wrong motives but what it showed Pauline that Mark would not stand for her and that it best to leave. Fuller finds her alone and he tells Julian he proposed to Pauline who ended up accepting. Fuller and Pauline will open up another college branch with Sir Julian’s blessing snd he knows Fuller will be all in for her as Mark could not love. If Pauline met Mark ten years ago it might have worked but Fuller will be a better husband and father. Mark let just kids alone basicslly and was not an hands on father which is needed. Iris will be loved but will find life is not so cut and dry. She so readily accepted Edna’s version of Pauline’s past without trusting her friend. It is best that Mark doesn’t work with either of the Fullers because it would be strange and ackward from the gossip that Edna brought about in the college staff.
Story in short- A new teacher has a past that cannot keep from seeping up and being critiqued.
Interesting how much London has changed 100 plus years later. "City of Freedom"
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 130
“We toilers and sowers gravitate to London instinctively. I always say,” Mr. Garrett observed, in tones of
great interest, “I always say, that London is the modern Mecca. Pilgrims come there from all parts. It is,
in many ways, a city of freedom. London, someone has said—the name of the writer has escaped my
memory—is the only capital in
Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Page 130
the world where a man can eat a penny bun in the streets without exciting comment. Now, that seems
to me quite extraordinarily descriptive.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Sir Julian doesn’t want to know what happens outside of school and rather turn a blind eye, though his demeanor has both Pauline and Iris confessing to him about themselves. Pauline tells why she left a cripled fiancé who said he loved her though he might have changed his mind and Pauline who did not love him and came to realize that marrying would be worse. Iris tells how she wanted her married brother Mark to have a love affair with Pauline. Edna felt everyone one was “poor” or misguided needing her help. She thought herself Mark’s proxy wife since his real wife is an alcoholic that was in a home. Edna started the rumors and ill will towards Pauline and having it work out from the tension and talk for Pauline to be fired. Fuller the supervisor had not wanted Pauline to quit but Sir Julian accepted and Pauline told him how she liked Mark and knew it would start talk but she cared for him and would have given him all but found out he rather not have a scene. So in this Edna helped an infidelity from happening that would only end in heartbreak. Edna had the wrong motives but what it showed Pauline that Mark would not stand for her and that it best to leave. Fuller finds her alone and he tells Julian he proposed to Pauline who ended up accepting. Fuller and Pauline will open up another college branch with Sir Julian’s blessing snd he knows Fuller will be all in for her as Mark could not love. If Pauline met Mark ten years ago it might have worked but Fuller will be a better husband and father. Mark let just kids alone basicslly and was not an hands on father which is needed. Iris will be loved but will find life is not so cut and dry. She so readily accepted Edna’s version of Pauline’s past without trusting her friend. It is best that Mark doesn’t work with either of the Fullers because it would be strange and ackward from the gossip that Edna brought about in the college staff.
September 24, 2024
I always buy every book by Delafield I find, and although the sequels to "The Provincial Lady" were a disappointment, altogether I find her a subtle and rewarding author. This is the case here with the exquisite story of how the self-righteous Lady Rossiter does everything she can by innuendo to destroy the life the Miss Marchrose, the new Lady Superintendent of the college founded by her husband, Sir Julian Rossiter. Lady Rossiter is a perfect study in hypocrisy. Of humble origins herself, it was an immense stroke of luck for her when Sir Julian proposed to her when she was already pushing 30. That he did so out of compassion and not out of love is something which she has chosen to forget because she is the type of person who rearranges reality to suit her self-image and malicious designs. When she latches on to the fact that Pauline Marchrose was once engaged to her distant cousin Clarence Isbister, she makes it her personal crusade to get the woman sacked from her job. As far as Edna is concerned, Pauline must be a monster because she allowed Clarence to release her from the engagement after he had an accident which left him paralyzed. That she knows nothing at all beyond the mere facts of the case, and that Clarence subsequently recovered and married someone else, matter not a bit to Edna, who is a bored busybody of the first order who mistakes her prurient officiousness for a deep, compassionate interest in the lives of her fellow mortals. When she puts it into her head that Pauline is "after" her married colleague Mark Easter, whose wife has been relegated to a facility for incurable alcoholics, she orchestrates a campaign to have Pauline removed from a position which she fulfill admirably. Although Sir Julian is firmly on Pauline's side, he is too weak to stand up for her, and Mark himself, in spite of his attraction to Pauline, is too shallow to seize his chance of rebuilding his life. Defeated even more by Mark's lack of spine than by Edna's machinations, Pauline leaves the college of her own accord, and subsequently accepts to marry Fairfax Fuller, who first recruited her and saw through Lady Rossiter's scheme all along. There are hilarious scenes with Mark's 2 children, Ruth and Ambrose, as well as with Mark's vapid sister Iris and her fiancé Douglas Garrett, a pompous ass who insists on passing himself off as a proud Scotsman although he harks from boring Swindon. Part rollicking comedy and part shrewd description of how just a drop of malevolence can have big ripples, "Tension" is a terrific read.
March 27, 2025
Tension (1921) by E. M. Delafield. The following doesn’t discuss plot but does describe a major character and themes in general terms.
I very much enjoyed the author’s critical view of the self righteousness, hypocrisy, and prejudice that affects the functionaries of a secretarial college. Delafield’s portrayal of Lady Edna Rossiter is masterful. Unfortunately her kind of zealotry manifests itself all too commonly in various aspects of society. The portrayal Sir Julian Rossiter is also very well done, and I found him disturbing in a quite a different way. The story also illustrates the enormous difficulties faced by women who lack social standing, especially unmarried women, an all too common situation in the interwar years. The author is a brilliant humorist. The humor in this work is largely sarcastic, but there are glimpses of the kind of light, charming humor that is the hallmark of her later novel, Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930). Overall I was surprised by how different Tension is to the Provincial Lady books, but I highly recommend that you experience this side of E. M. Delafield.
I very much enjoyed the author’s critical view of the self righteousness, hypocrisy, and prejudice that affects the functionaries of a secretarial college. Delafield’s portrayal of Lady Edna Rossiter is masterful. Unfortunately her kind of zealotry manifests itself all too commonly in various aspects of society. The portrayal Sir Julian Rossiter is also very well done, and I found him disturbing in a quite a different way. The story also illustrates the enormous difficulties faced by women who lack social standing, especially unmarried women, an all too common situation in the interwar years. The author is a brilliant humorist. The humor in this work is largely sarcastic, but there are glimpses of the kind of light, charming humor that is the hallmark of her later novel, Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930). Overall I was surprised by how different Tension is to the Provincial Lady books, but I highly recommend that you experience this side of E. M. Delafield.
September 9, 2023
Another in the excellent British Library Women Writers series. Delafield, unlike others in the series, is not quite as forgotten as some of the other authors, thanks to the enduring popularity of Diary of a Provincial Lady. As with Tea Is So Intoxicating most of the characters, with the exception of the unfortunate Miss Marchrose & naive Mark Easter, are unappealing. Lady Rossiter is truly frightful but wholly believable (I have met her alter ego on too many occasions). Delafield captures the hierarchy, petty snobbery, hypocrisy & misogyny of the post war county town that in my experience still prevails in many places.
December 11, 2023
I very much enjoyed this story of the awful hypocrite Lady Rossiter and her quiet-life-seeking husband. The tension is indeed ratcheted-up through Lady Rossiter's rumour-mongering. It is a painful story, though the outcome seems right, but told with all Delafield's wit. Some of her sentences are (deliberately?) convoluted, forcing a careful re-reading, but the effort is well worthwhile; a very good read.
September 1, 2025
Almost 5*. I loved the wit, the language and the way a truly horrible character became more monstrous as the novel went on. An excellent read.
August 12, 2025
I adored Diary of a Provincial Lady, but I wasn't sure how Delafield would handle a more serious book. I need not have feared. Tension has all of the charm of that lighthearted series but digs deeper into the issues that lie beneath the surface in Provincial Lady. Lady Rossiter, like Lady B., is the villain of the story, but much more consequentially so. Delafield is a master at creating a character from a few words, and I have a vivid image of Lady Rossiter from her mantra: "Is it kind, is it wise, is it true?" Her introduction as a comedic character, though, belies the depth of her determination to ruin Miss Marchrose. This reminded me of some of the women in Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, who set themselves up as gatekeepers of the status quo: they had to make it in the old system, and they were darned if they were going to let the younger women opt out.
The men, in contrast, are defined by their inaction. In spite of their respect for Miss Marchrose, none of them except Fuller makes the least effort to stand up to Lady Rossiter. Sir Julian has an almost congenital aversion to "interfering." Does he not feel it's his place? Does he think it wouldn't make a difference? Or is it that he just can't be bothered? It's a bit like Anna's husband in The Death of the Heart, who offloads the care of his sister onto her, thereby transferring any subsequent blame onto her. I'm not sure either man deserves to be let off the hook. And then there's Mark. . . .
More broadly, Tension captures a time just after WWI when the world was changing rapidly. Women were in the workplace, but rumors that you broke off an engagement could get you fired. Another interesting aspect is the relationship between Lady Rossiter and the college staff. She thinks of her role feudally, inviting them as lady of the manor to tea on their days off, but the staff do not exactly jump to spend their time off with her.
The men, in contrast, are defined by their inaction. In spite of their respect for Miss Marchrose, none of them except Fuller makes the least effort to stand up to Lady Rossiter. Sir Julian has an almost congenital aversion to "interfering." Does he not feel it's his place? Does he think it wouldn't make a difference? Or is it that he just can't be bothered? It's a bit like Anna's husband in The Death of the Heart, who offloads the care of his sister onto her, thereby transferring any subsequent blame onto her. I'm not sure either man deserves to be let off the hook. And then there's Mark. . . .
More broadly, Tension captures a time just after WWI when the world was changing rapidly. Women were in the workplace, but rumors that you broke off an engagement could get you fired. Another interesting aspect is the relationship between Lady Rossiter and the college staff. She thinks of her role feudally, inviting them as lady of the manor to tea on their days off, but the staff do not exactly jump to spend their time off with her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews