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Mapp & Lucia #4-6
Lucia Victrix
"Mapp & Lucia" first published in 1935. "Lucia's progress" first published 1935. "Trouble for Lucia" first published in 1939.
752 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
About the author
E.F. Benson
1,321 books371 followersEdward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.
Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.
Last paragraph from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
August 28, 2024
My favourite series. I can't think of a less worthy character that I wish good things for than Lucia.
May 20, 2015
This volume contains three of the novels - Mapp and Lucia, Lucia's Progress and Trouble for Lucia – by E.F. Benson takes the reader to the gossipy and snobby upper-middle England of the 20s and 30s. The humorous incidents that happen when Lucia and Elisabeth Mapp battle for social and cultural supremacy in the village of Tilling will leave you glowing with the ultimate delight of reading a sparkling satire.
September 17, 2024
Oh how tarsome that the show is over. I could go reading forever about the delicious darlings of Tilling. A bit of Mozartino and Giardino segreto- simply delightful, one must simply join in the fun! By fun this is outright war darlings and all the better because it’s done over tea!
Volume 2 is the FAR better collection compared to 1, this is when the two Queens meet and there is a tete a tete which is jousted across the collection of stories. Just when you think Mapp is at her pinnacle her ego and pride pushes her off and Lucia eagerly clambers aboard the top. These feisty battles involve the genteel class of Tilling too (much like the previous volume) who become involved as ammunition, allies or aperitifs to the two heroines. It is a show that you cannot miss and is so cleverly crafted by Benson that it appears timeless.
What is all the more interesting is the dominance of these two women who are both uniquely tart and so repulsive it turns into a sweet delicacy. The men in the village and in fact the whole book are dominated and overshadowed (quite a few times literally) which makes incredibly interesting to read in terms of a man writing these absolute female powerhouses in the interwar years. Plus, we have to love quaint Irene with her daring paintings and also Georgie with his delightful suits, bibleots, and petite-points. It is honestly such a diverse novel with characters which at first glance appear all the same but then it becomes exposed the quirks and nuances of village life. I feel there is a reflection of Benson in all these characters, obviously the gay Georgie – literally and in the old sense of the word, Lucia as mayor, and the conflict of small-town Tilling or in real life, Rye. This is therefore a highly interesting novel in terms of context (homosexuality in small village life in 1920s Britain, the dying upper class to name a few) but importantly this combines to perform a delightful show which one must simply come and spectate. Long live the Queens!
(I couldn't italicise certain words so imagine the emphasis because there certainly are lots)
Volume 2 is the FAR better collection compared to 1, this is when the two Queens meet and there is a tete a tete which is jousted across the collection of stories. Just when you think Mapp is at her pinnacle her ego and pride pushes her off and Lucia eagerly clambers aboard the top. These feisty battles involve the genteel class of Tilling too (much like the previous volume) who become involved as ammunition, allies or aperitifs to the two heroines. It is a show that you cannot miss and is so cleverly crafted by Benson that it appears timeless.
What is all the more interesting is the dominance of these two women who are both uniquely tart and so repulsive it turns into a sweet delicacy. The men in the village and in fact the whole book are dominated and overshadowed (quite a few times literally) which makes incredibly interesting to read in terms of a man writing these absolute female powerhouses in the interwar years. Plus, we have to love quaint Irene with her daring paintings and also Georgie with his delightful suits, bibleots, and petite-points. It is honestly such a diverse novel with characters which at first glance appear all the same but then it becomes exposed the quirks and nuances of village life. I feel there is a reflection of Benson in all these characters, obviously the gay Georgie – literally and in the old sense of the word, Lucia as mayor, and the conflict of small-town Tilling or in real life, Rye. This is therefore a highly interesting novel in terms of context (homosexuality in small village life in 1920s Britain, the dying upper class to name a few) but importantly this combines to perform a delightful show which one must simply come and spectate. Long live the Queens!
(I couldn't italicise certain words so imagine the emphasis because there certainly are lots)
September 27, 2024
"but then men don't count for much in Tilling. It's brains that do it."
“Tiresome woman, thought Georgie. If there is a fly anywhere about she is sure to put it in someone’s ointment.”
What is there to say that I did not say in my review of volume 1? The audio performance here is just as good as it was there. Mapp and Lucia continue to entertain. It was fun to see Georgie stand up to Lucia a little in the last volume.
“Tiresome woman, thought Georgie. If there is a fly anywhere about she is sure to put it in someone’s ointment.”
What is there to say that I did not say in my review of volume 1? The audio performance here is just as good as it was there. Mapp and Lucia continue to entertain. It was fun to see Georgie stand up to Lucia a little in the last volume.
February 9, 2012
Delightful story of two women vying for supreme society head. All the other characters wonderfully add to the entire scene. Two women floating out to sea on a table is such a stitch!! Gotta read it. I loved it so much I watched the series on Netflix.
September 26, 2007
I LOVE LUCIA! (see Lucia Rising review)
October 31, 2011
Deliciously funny......Mapp is truly awful!
December 2, 2013
LOVED IT!
August 9, 2014
Great fun, a real treat.
July 20, 2014
Hilarious. Comedy of manners set in deliciously snobby, gossipy, upper-middle class England of the 20s/30s
March 26, 2015
An excellent, comic view of small town life that shows even the protagonist in a realistic, unflattering light. Full of laughs!
January 16, 2016
This book positively glistens with sharp endlessly quotable dialogue and elegant fun. Excellent. Excellent.
November 16, 2023
I enjoyed this book. E.F.Benson is/was a master storyteller and as each social contretemps built up there were times when I just had to stop reading as I could see no way out of the forthcoming disaster. But always Lucia would be quite unconcerned and with a few deft moves, or no moves at all, the whole thing would reverse it self and Mapp would be discomfited yet again. The last book of this collection of three is "Trouble for Lucia" published in 1939 and there are occasional references to trouble on the horizon, but it is alas the last Mapp and Lucia book altogether, as E F Benson died in 1940.
March 8, 2009
I read the first of the three books contained in this anthology some time ago and found its treatment of petty squabbles and snobberies in an upper-middle class England of the 20s & 30s very entertaining.
I didn't re-read it this time round, it still being fairly clear in my memory, but, as the titles imply, silly Lucia triumphs in the second and has problems to overcome, many of her own making, in the third.
Reading these makes me wonder what little things that are of such vital importance to us would be snobberies and affectations to those of another time.
I didn't re-read it this time round, it still being fairly clear in my memory, but, as the titles imply, silly Lucia triumphs in the second and has problems to overcome, many of her own making, in the third.
Reading these makes me wonder what little things that are of such vital importance to us would be snobberies and affectations to those of another time.
December 24, 2008
Read my other review of "Lucia Rising" first...
In this volume of the final three books, Lucia meets her nemesis, Miss Elizabeth Mapp, and the desperate battle to become the queen bee of Tilling begins. The sneaky tricks, hypocrisies, double-dealings and back-handedness are fabulous. Meanwhile, Georgie decides to dye his beard with unfortunate results.) And in the final book, Miss Mapp and Lucia find themselves literally adrift!
In this volume of the final three books, Lucia meets her nemesis, Miss Elizabeth Mapp, and the desperate battle to become the queen bee of Tilling begins. The sneaky tricks, hypocrisies, double-dealings and back-handedness are fabulous. Meanwhile, Georgie decides to dye his beard with unfortunate results.) And in the final book, Miss Mapp and Lucia find themselves literally adrift!
March 17, 2011
laughed myself silly .....loved it and wish I could find more books by EF Benson
Want to Read
August 26, 2012I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11358862
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11358862
January 28, 2015
Witty, sparkling social comedy. It is a period piece but not at all dated. I guess that makes it a classic.
March 16, 2018
An excellent read. Would definitely recommend.
July 23, 2017
Not as good as Volume 1. Lucia actually became a little irritating by the end of this.
September 7, 2026
4 1/2 stars
Much as I relish Mapp and Lucia as individual characters, I don't like them quite as much when they are mashed together in one village. Lucia is the Hyacinth Bucket of the1920s, so she is both tiresome (or rather "tarsome" - love Georgie!) and funny. Mapp is pure poison, but also funny.
Separate, this is great, but when you put them together, with each one trying to outdo the other, that takes away some of the fun, because much as one yearns to see Lucia taken down a peg or two, that would give Mapp pleasure, and one has an even stronger desire to see Mapp taken down about 17 pegs. (At least this one does.) So the novels that bring them together aren't, to me, quite as much fun as those that allow each to, well, shine or perhaps tarnish separately. Still, they are nonetheless great fun. I'm almost sorry I've finished them. I know there are sequels written by someone else, but I don't think I want to read another writer's interpretation.
Much as I relish Mapp and Lucia as individual characters, I don't like them quite as much when they are mashed together in one village. Lucia is the Hyacinth Bucket of the1920s, so she is both tiresome (or rather "tarsome" - love Georgie!) and funny. Mapp is pure poison, but also funny.
Separate, this is great, but when you put them together, with each one trying to outdo the other, that takes away some of the fun, because much as one yearns to see Lucia taken down a peg or two, that would give Mapp pleasure, and one has an even stronger desire to see Mapp taken down about 17 pegs. (At least this one does.) So the novels that bring them together aren't, to me, quite as much fun as those that allow each to, well, shine or perhaps tarnish separately. Still, they are nonetheless great fun. I'm almost sorry I've finished them. I know there are sequels written by someone else, but I don't think I want to read another writer's interpretation.
June 2, 2025
Gosh I love these books. This one, I think, is the first one of the series. I read and reread these. My copies are very creased and well-worn now. These are set-in upper-class English village life in the 1930s (or thereabouts) but the characters hold true of people today. I have a friend who has plenty of the snobby characteristics of Lucia - I recognise her! And I see Miss Mapp characteristics in, not only myself, but in some of the people I know. And Georgie is just gorgeous - I adore his funny little habits.
November 1, 2025
First two books are wonderful. The monsters are at it again and many changes have occurred to keep them at each others throats. The final volume ‘Lucia in Trouble’ is a little sad. Lucia has too much suffering for my comfort. I know she deserves it but I like her too much to see her put down. It ends on a high note. Diva is my absolute favourite. She’s the one person in Tilling who speaks plainly.
March 8, 2020
Three good stories, but rather similar. Best broken up with other stuff.
February 1, 2022
Very well written, Wickedly funny, but it makes you see the faults within yourself too ! Best read in small portions.
August 26, 2021
Edward Frederic Benson was an English humourist and archaeologist who also wrote horror and ghost novels. The Lucia novels were written between 1920-1939. Noel Coward and Nancy Mitford were great followers of his work. As Coward said of Lucia Victrix, ‘We will pay anything for Lucia Books.’
Benson came from an eccentric, intellectually gifted family. His father was the Archbishop of Canterbury, his sister an archaeologist and his brother a musicologist. Benson lived the English country lifestyle he describes so accurately in the Lucia novels.
His writing is so skilful that it’s almost as though the reader is living alongside Lucia and her arch rival, Elizabeth Mapp in the small township of Tilling.
The author writes satirically about the sort of social battles that are common to society ladies as they duke it out to decide who becomes the leading light of their village. Lucia and Elizabeth subtly attack and undermine each other at pageants, dinner parties, local art exhibitions, bridge parties and afternoon teas. The more monstrous their behaviour becomes, the more civil they appear to be in public.
The humour lies in their devious interactions and the effect they have on their Tilling friends – who would be bored to tears if the two leading ‘ladies’ weren’t engaged in battle.
The writing is as light as a souffle but Benson’s social observations are outrageously true. And at no point is the author ever mean or nasty about his targets. Thus the reader is able to sympathise and have empathy for those who consistently behave badly in the village of Tilling.
Benson came from an eccentric, intellectually gifted family. His father was the Archbishop of Canterbury, his sister an archaeologist and his brother a musicologist. Benson lived the English country lifestyle he describes so accurately in the Lucia novels.
His writing is so skilful that it’s almost as though the reader is living alongside Lucia and her arch rival, Elizabeth Mapp in the small township of Tilling.
The author writes satirically about the sort of social battles that are common to society ladies as they duke it out to decide who becomes the leading light of their village. Lucia and Elizabeth subtly attack and undermine each other at pageants, dinner parties, local art exhibitions, bridge parties and afternoon teas. The more monstrous their behaviour becomes, the more civil they appear to be in public.
The humour lies in their devious interactions and the effect they have on their Tilling friends – who would be bored to tears if the two leading ‘ladies’ weren’t engaged in battle.
The writing is as light as a souffle but Benson’s social observations are outrageously true. And at no point is the author ever mean or nasty about his targets. Thus the reader is able to sympathise and have empathy for those who consistently behave badly in the village of Tilling.
July 19, 2022
I listened to the audiobook version of this title, read superbly by Georgina Sutton, who brought personality to all of the characters, especially the lead ladies.
Volume One devotes 2 stories to Lucia and 1 to Mapp. From these tales, you honestly don’t know if you like or loathe them! I can honestly say that they, neither of them, have any redeeming qualities! You come away with a great enjoyment of their exploits and an equal determination to never be among either circle of friends.
Volume TWO throws the 2 ladies together for the first time and it starts off fabulously, until…!
That’s where the fun and games begin and also where you start to see their true characters. Elizabeth Mapp is petty, vindictive and spiteful, whereas Emily Lucas is driven, calculating and teachable (just). You see from these new and joint exploits, who learns from any setbacks, who grows from said setbacks and who overcomes, from the same!
The fact that many of these lessons are administered by either lady against the other, or that they cause their friends to either staunchly protect them or flip flop in a dilemma of loyalties, make this a fantastic comedy of society manners!
I’m very, very late to the party, but I’m really thrilled to have discovered these tales, it’s a shame that there are no more.
Volume One devotes 2 stories to Lucia and 1 to Mapp. From these tales, you honestly don’t know if you like or loathe them! I can honestly say that they, neither of them, have any redeeming qualities! You come away with a great enjoyment of their exploits and an equal determination to never be among either circle of friends.
Volume TWO throws the 2 ladies together for the first time and it starts off fabulously, until…!
That’s where the fun and games begin and also where you start to see their true characters. Elizabeth Mapp is petty, vindictive and spiteful, whereas Emily Lucas is driven, calculating and teachable (just). You see from these new and joint exploits, who learns from any setbacks, who grows from said setbacks and who overcomes, from the same!
The fact that many of these lessons are administered by either lady against the other, or that they cause their friends to either staunchly protect them or flip flop in a dilemma of loyalties, make this a fantastic comedy of society manners!
I’m very, very late to the party, but I’m really thrilled to have discovered these tales, it’s a shame that there are no more.
February 10, 2019
Multiple stories of Lucia, the reigning queen of her social circle and Mapp, the busybody, manipulative woman in her small town. At a point, these two headstrong women end up living in the same town where they each work to be Queen Bee. The passive aggressive manipulation is a little tiring. This book may best be read in short bursts.
April 13, 2011
the best
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews