Delderfield, R(onald) F(rederick)

(British, 1912–72)

R. F. Delderfield was born in Greenwich, London and eventually became editor of the Exmouth Chronicle. He is most famous for his romantic family sagas, many of which evoke an England of a bygone age, in a leisurely and skilful way. God is an Englishman (1970) is typical of these, being the tale of the life of Adam Swann who sets up a road haulage business in England in the 1850s and marries a younger but spirited wife. The novel is unashamedly middlebrow, and uses the whole of England as its canvas. The Swann family saga is continued in Theirs was the Kingdom (1971) and Give Us This Day (1973).

H. E. Bates, John Galsworthy, J. B. Priestley. See FAMILY SAGA  SA