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135th out of 724 books
—
660 voters
Mapp and Lucia (Lucia #4)
by
E.F. Benson
Two queens of trivia and respectable (yet shamelessly inquisitive) scheming are brought together with the inevitable result -- war to the last knife and fork.
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
July 1st 2004
by Black Swan
(first published 1931)
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Delightful; amusing; gentle comedy of manners: while accurate descriptors of Mapp and Lucia, these words also make it sound twee and, perhaps, dated, which is far from the truth. Gossipy, waspish and, at times, malignant are also accurate, and go more to the heart of the humour.
Elizabeth Mapp hates Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas with a passion; Lucia despises and pities Mapp in equal measure. Each scheming and plotting to be the centre of their social circle, their machinations against each other must a...more
Elizabeth Mapp hates Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas with a passion; Lucia despises and pities Mapp in equal measure. Each scheming and plotting to be the centre of their social circle, their machinations against each other must a...more
One of my favorite series of all times, perhaps the absolute favorite. I read it every year, in the bathtub, and my copies are a wrinkled mess.
I love the characters in this book and the look into life how it was imagined to be (and maybe was) between the Wars for the well to do with no reason to earn a living. Life was a series of tea parties, bridge parties, garden parties (sometimes), church, etc. And don't forget the daily trip to the market.
This particular volume concerns the relationship b...more
I love the characters in this book and the look into life how it was imagined to be (and maybe was) between the Wars for the well to do with no reason to earn a living. Life was a series of tea parties, bridge parties, garden parties (sometimes), church, etc. And don't forget the daily trip to the market.
This particular volume concerns the relationship b...more
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I expected a little more from this book, but that's not to say I didn't like it. These books are really well known and loved, but I'm totally new to them. (Reminds me of a friend who as a child thought she had discovered a very unknown and small band called "The Beatles" of which she must be one of a few elite fans).
It centers around Emmeline Lucas (Lucia) and Elizabeth Mapp. Lucia is new in town and Mapp can't stand for her to become the center of social life in small town Tilling. These two la...more
It centers around Emmeline Lucas (Lucia) and Elizabeth Mapp. Lucia is new in town and Mapp can't stand for her to become the center of social life in small town Tilling. These two la...more
Perhaps my favorite series of all that I try to reread once a year. Endlessly hilarious and engrossing, even though all the jokes are frequently repeated (however, they become exponentially funnier each time they pop up) and nothing much happens. But because everyone in the book finds the minutia of their everyday (wealthy and rather pampered) existence so fascinating, it becomes of immense import to the reader as well.
I remember how upset I originally was when Lucia and Georgie left Riseholme...more
I remember how upset I originally was when Lucia and Georgie left Riseholme...more
I love the Mapp and Lucia books, they're very funny comedies. In some ways they remind me of Jane Austen's novels, although they're set in the 1930s and they don't have any romantic elements. In fact nearly all the characters are middle aged. But, like Austen's novels, the books are set in small villages and they are wonderfully observed. Lucia reminds me of Mrs Elton, with her fake Italian and her social climbing, and Miss Mapp on occasion reminds me of Mrs John Dashwood. But despite echoes of...more
I always liked the Britcom "Keeping Up Appearances". But it is distracting to wonder so often why no one has ever murdered Hyacinth Bucket ("It's boo-KAY!"). She's amusing, but mostly because she is surrounded by family and … friends who recognize the fact that she's unchangeably outrageous, and they're stuck with her. (Unless they kill her, and since it's a sitcom they never do.) These other characters, the neighbors and her sisters and their families, and of course her poor bedeviled husband R...more
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This is my favourite of all the Lucia books. Two upper crust ladies floating away on an upturned kitchen table, out to sea during a storm? An intriguing story already, but when you know the two ladies are arch enemies and would do anything to outsmart their rival, you have a great book that will make you chuckle from start to finish.
The two arch rivals of a small seaside town filled with snobbery certainly out-do each other in this one, going to war over recipes, water colour paintings and prett...more
The two arch rivals of a small seaside town filled with snobbery certainly out-do each other in this one, going to war over recipes, water colour paintings and prett...more
Jun 06, 2008
jainabee
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anglophiles
Recommended to jainabee by:
Uncle Kaz
Shelves:
will-finish-it-someday
I'm midway through the series, and I'm totally hooked! It's hard to explain why the conniving social sparring amongst snobbish pretentious idle rich Brits in the '20s & '30s is so fascinating— but I've always enjoyed a Jeeves & Wooster romp. This is how Bertie's Aunt Agatha lives.
A delightful little view into the social world of upper-middle class Edwardian village dwellers. Although written in the 1930s the atmosphere it breaths is distinctly pre-WWI. Two ladies are waging a personal war to be the centre of social life in their little town, one obviously superior to the other.
None of the characters have any depth, they are all amusing stereotypes, but that doesn't matter one bit. The book is very a-sexual, although some characters are definitely gay. The best thing abou...more
None of the characters have any depth, they are all amusing stereotypes, but that doesn't matter one bit. The book is very a-sexual, although some characters are definitely gay. The best thing abou...more
First, i loved the TV series of the Benson novels but had never read the books. When we moved to Cavan I decided to give the L and M books a try. I walked into my local bookshop (winner if the 2011 Best Indie Bookshop Award and well-deserved) and asked for the books to be ordered and was surprised to get this reply --- "aren't they a bit dated?" How can books such as this be dated! They deal with the foibles of humanity that have been around for centuries and provide laughs on every page. I foun...more
I love this books by E F Benson. I read them years ago when I first came to England. Many a hot tube journey was spent reading them and they are fantastic. Lucia is an outright snob of the highest order and Elizabeth Mapp is a curtain twitching busy body. Their everyday lives make me smile. I read these books whenever I need comfort or a good laugh. E F Benson wrote the first three or so and then years later an Oxford don picked up where Benson left off and wrote some more. I have since discover...more
It is so hard to explain why I love this 1931 novel about two middle-aged ladies wielding bridge and dinner parties in a bid for social supremacy over a country village SO MUCH, but I adore it and can reread it over and over. It's so utterly delicious, and laced with poison.
There is no doubt that while the sickly sweet and petty Elizabeth Mapp and the pretentious pseudo-intellectual Lucia are fun alone in the 1920s novels, they don't really fizz and bang until they're in the same book. "Mapp an...more
There is no doubt that while the sickly sweet and petty Elizabeth Mapp and the pretentious pseudo-intellectual Lucia are fun alone in the 1920s novels, they don't really fizz and bang until they're in the same book. "Mapp an...more
But Foljambe, Cadman!' he cried. 'Foljambe can't come back here every night from Riseholme. What am I to do ? Is it all irrevocable?'
Lucia bridled. She was quite aware that this parting (if there was to be one) between him and Foljambe would be a dagger, but it was surprising, to say the least, that the thought of the parting between herself and him should not have administered him the first shock. However, there it was. Foljambe first by all means.
When Lucia, having retreated from the social wh...more
Lucia bridled. She was quite aware that this parting (if there was to be one) between him and Foljambe would be a dagger, but it was surprising, to say the least, that the thought of the parting between herself and him should not have administered him the first shock. However, there it was. Foljambe first by all means.
When Lucia, having retreated from the social wh...more
One of my favorite series of all times, perhaps the absolute favorite. I read it every year, in the bathtub, and my copies are a wrinkled mess.
I love the characters in this book and the look into life how it was imagined to be (and maybe was) between the Wars for the well to do with no reason to earn a living. Life was a series of tea parties, bridge parties, garden parties (sometimes), church, etc. And don't forget the daily trip to the market.
This particular volume concerns the relationship b...more
I love the characters in this book and the look into life how it was imagined to be (and maybe was) between the Wars for the well to do with no reason to earn a living. Life was a series of tea parties, bridge parties, garden parties (sometimes), church, etc. And don't forget the daily trip to the market.
This particular volume concerns the relationship b...more
This is the story of Mrs Emmeline Lucas, aka Lucia, used to being queen of her society in the village of Riseholme. When she moves to Tilling, a pretty village by the sea, she tries to wrest social control from the hideous Miss Mapp and a battle for social supremacy ensues.
This is a very funny book indeed, and elegantly written. Mapp is a dreadful snob, and it's quite nice to see her get her comeuppance, but pretentious Lucia, who pretends falsely that she can speak Italian and nearly comes a c...more
This is a very funny book indeed, and elegantly written. Mapp is a dreadful snob, and it's quite nice to see her get her comeuppance, but pretentious Lucia, who pretends falsely that she can speak Italian and nearly comes a c...more
Quick, fun read; pretty much what I expected from the description on the back. You can see at the same time why Auden was a fan and why it isn't that famous any more. It's sharp and clever and occasionally kind, but the characters aren't really vivid or lovable enough, or the prose quite brilliant enough, for it to be a really lasting classic. (Compare Saki, whose every sentence is a perfectly-constructed delight; Wodehouse ditto. Wodehouse's characters aren't any more well-rounded, but his writ...more
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Mapp and Lucia and the world of the village of Tilling is a delight. A romp though a comedy of manners as Emmeline Lucas (Lucia) and Miss Elizabeth Mapp butt heads to win the hearts, minds and souls of the Tillingites.
I'm sure you're get swept up in this world of drawing comedy and intrigue just as much as Georgie, dear Diva, Major Benjy and quaint Irene do.
I'm sure you're get swept up in this world of drawing comedy and intrigue just as much as Georgie, dear Diva, Major Benjy and quaint Irene do.
I read the Lucia serie some years ago, and in French (which means I probably lacked a lot of the subtleties of Benson's writing), but I remember laughing out loud and being utterly charmed by his characters. It's hilarious, very British, and it says a lot about British society in a humorous, ironic, delightful way. All of the books are equally good, and filled with the same sense of humor. Lucia is a great heroine, and her adventures are quite a treat.
This is actually a series of five short novels about the inimitable Lucia and the indomitable Miss Mapp, arch-rivals in a tiny English village in the period after the first world war. Mapp and Lucia may have invented the term "frenemy." Mapp does not show up until the second book, and by then you will be hooked on the loopy Lucia.
As with the prior books in the series, the references to period-specific (UK 1920s) culture give it some extra amusement and depth - this volume touches on exercise faddism (eurythmics, the first glimmerings of yoga in the West) and the still-controversial introduction of daylight saving time in the summer.
"Miss Mapp" and "Mapp and Lucia" are where Benson really hits his stride. It's almost as if he was practicing how to write Elizabeth Mapp with his early versions of Lucia. Then when he got her right, Lucia could become the glorious, annoying, infuriating character that she was meant to be. And she is all of those things, and more.
While Miss Mapp is simply loathsome.
While Miss Mapp is simply loathsome.
Total guilty pleasure. I don't like the stories when Lucia is humiliated, because she has a good heart despite her snobbery. But what could be more fun than to see Mapp defeated?
When life is tough, there is nothing like relaxing with these stories, and revisiting the war of the poppy skirt.
When life is tough, there is nothing like relaxing with these stories, and revisiting the war of the poppy skirt.
Jul 02, 2008
Kat
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
absolute-guilty-pleasures,
delights
I adore these books - absolutely love Georgie and his bibelots. You just get lost in this tiny world of pugs, flowers, Queen this and that and just queens. You'll never hear Beethoven the same way again and Lucia is just perfect. These are period pieces, but they are filled with the quaint images of a splendidly underplayed hand. When "modern life" gets just too Blackberried, MSNed, and poked into a neat package of downloads, I just escape and read these over and over. These are NOT high brow. T...more
An amusing look at bored rich older ladies of the twenties competing for top lady/hostess of the village. Something like Jane Austen in that the focus is tiny (one little village), but the characters are conniving, back-stabbing and ridiculous! Shows the dark side of humanity!
I feel that I should like these stories far more than I do. It seems as though they should appeal to me in their entirety, but I just can't warm to any of the characters. I find them flat, underdeveloped and rather silly. I'd give this two and a half stars if I could.
The Mapp and Lucia books are sheer perfection. I lived not far from Tilling (Rye) and always regret not going to visit it. Now I live 4,000 miles away...
The humor, the bitchiness, the rivalry that filled what seem to be empty lives...it's all just so entertaining.
The humor, the bitchiness, the rivalry that filled what seem to be empty lives...it's all just so entertaining.
I was very hopeful about this book, but then it turned out to be the slowest read a comedy has ever been. I am glad I stuck it out, though, because I adored some of the ending scenes. At the book club discussion, I found myself reciting some of the funny scenes- which were fantastic! If the author had been able to focus a little more, have more of a plot and a quicker writing style, it would have been better.
Bottom line: if you want to read a comedy about 1930s English elite, stick with PG Wood...more
Bottom line: if you want to read a comedy about 1930s English elite, stick with PG Wood...more
Listened to unabridged audio book read by Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers, etc.) and thoroughly enjoying it. I think it's my 5th or 6th listen. I have also read the book several times. Each time is a new experience and I hear and read new bits. Just perfect. The ending always makes me smile. Prunella does great voices, worth listening to just for that, but the DVD series is just as good.
This is the third book of the E. F. Benson Mapp and Lucia six book series that I have read, and I love these stories. In a nutshell, the settings and characters can be likened to a combination of P. G. Wodehouse stories and the BBC series, Keeping Up Appearances, with a little Jane Austin thrown in. Set in the 1930's, it is a delightful period comedy involving the social and personal behavior of the two title characters, Emmeline Lucas (Lucia) and Elizabeth Mapp in the fictional English town of...more
Very funny, but after a while the petty maliciousness of Mapp and Lucia become a bit...tarsome. It's probably best to take them in small doses, one novel at a time, rather than reading five in succession.
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Edward Frederic Benson wrote comic novels, ghost stories, novels of manners, memoirs and reminiscences, and informal biographies -- almost 100 books in total.
More about E.F. Benson...
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6 trivia questions
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“There is a certain amount which I shan't mention publicly," Elizabeth said. "Things about Lucia which I should never dream of stating openly."
"Those are just the ones I should like to hear about most," said Diva. "Just a few little titbits.”
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"Those are just the ones I should like to hear about most," said Diva. "Just a few little titbits.”
