The British author E.M. Delafield, 1890-1943, was the pseudonym of Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, the daughter of the novelist Mrs. Henry de la Pasture. Her pseudonym is a variant on her maiden name. In 1919, she married Arthur Dashwood and had two children, a son killed in the Second World War and a daughter named Ros Truelove. In the First World War, she served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse in Exeter and later worked for the Ministry of National Service at Bristol. Delafield published about forty novels and three plays. From her first novel, Zella Sees Herself (1917), her books were consistently best sellers. Her most popular novel was The Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930). Women were featured prominently in her writing. Delafield was also a popular lecturer, travelled extensively in the United States and Russia, and wrote about both countries. She was a contributor to Punch for eleven years and was known for her satire and wit. In addition, Delafield wrote several studies in criminology and on the Bronte family, and participated in and wrote a number of radio talks and plays.