SOURCE: "E. M. Delafield," in Time and Tide, Vol. 28, No. 48, December 13, 1947, pp. 1346-48.

Rhondda was the editor of Time and Tide. In the following essay, she comments on the lasting appeal of Delafield's semiautobiographical fiction.

E. M. Delafield was the perfect provider of good 'lights'. And, as every editor knows, there is nothing so rare. It is as difficult to find the really right 'light' as it used to be in more spacious days, to find the perfect savoury for a good dinner. I doubt whether one should too often use short stories. Occasionally, no doubt, for variety is the most important thing. But the most perfect short story ever written is seldom in its absolutely right place in the pages of a weekly review. Indeed in one sense it may be said that the better the story the less suitable it is. For just as in choosing...