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Mapp & Lucia #1-3
The Complete Mapp and Lucia: Volume 1
Outrageously pretentious, hypocritical and snobbish, Queen Lucia, 'as by right divine' rules over the toy kingdom of 'Riseholme' based on the Cotswold village of Broadway. Her long-suffering husband Pepino is 'her prince-consort', the outrageously camp Georgie is her 'gentleman-in-waiting', and the village green is her 'parliament'.
632 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
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About the author
E.F. Benson
1,030 books355 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 52 reviews
October 28, 2023
These books are just magnificent; each time I read a new one, I think it's the best. I really should read them more often, and plan do do so.
May 11, 2011
If you live in Riseholme, England, you are a minion of Lucia (pronounced the Italian way), the Queen of Art and Culture. She controls the social network and has raised the poor little town to a degree of culture it has never known before. Any social event MUST have Lucia play the first movement of The Moonlight Sonata (she doesn't play the other two because they don't have the same 'mood' although her best friend Georgie knows they are actually too difficult for her!) and provide the requisite communal sigh (denoting the sheer beauty of it). If music is provided (and it had better never be a grammaphone!), Lucia will sit in her "appreciative" pose of elbow on knee, leaning forward, chin resting on hand, eyes slightly unfocused so that you know she is concentrating on the beauty of the music. In short she is a small town tyrant. But a loveable one. In the first story in this edition, Queen Lucia, Lucia's reign is suddenly threatened by the arrival of an opera diva who, of course not understanding the dear inhabitants of Riseholme and their tastes, institutes free-for-all "play" evenings, plays music on the grammaphone and threatens Lucia's dominance in every way. Will Lucia be able to survive? Will she be replaced? Will Riseholme lose its cultural magnificence?
In the second story, Lucia in London, Lucia's husband's aunt dies and throws them into deep mourning (although they haven't seen her in the 7 years she's been in the asylum)AND into the ownership of a house in a nice section of London. Lucia has never made it a secret of her distaste of London and its hustle-bustle, mindless actions, etc. When she visits it, she always longs to return to "dear Riseholme" with its quiet and its culture. But now it appears that she is determined to move to London. Will she really go? Will she decided to stay? What will happen to the Hurst, her house in Riseholm? And who will take over the social programming?
Lucia's neighbors are a wonderful lot as well. Georgie (or Georgino, since they MUST speak Italian!) is not married, lives by himself, accompanies Lucia in her piano duets and embroiders. Mrs. Quantock, short and round, moves from one fad to the next - spiritualism, yoga, onion soup diets, you name it. Mrs. Antrobus who can't hear a thing in spite of her enormous ear trumpet. Mrs. Weston who rides all day in a bath chair, pushed by one servant or another at a breakneck speed around the town. And others too numerous to mention.
Another story on a different heroine, Miss Mapp, is included as well. Miss Mapp is around 40 and has her eye on the Major who lives just across the street. In more way than one. Miss Mapp has a bow window in her garden room from which she can watch the entire street to catch someone doing something he/she ought not. She is worried that her servants are using her phone for their own purposes, she MUST be the one who starts gossip spinning around town, can NEVER be wrong about what's happening in the town, and never hesitates to explain the the Major and the Captain how they must lead their lives.
In short, these two ladies typify English small town life between the Great War and the Great Depression. The humor is sharp, the characters all complicit, and the writing sweet. E. F. Benson is well worth reading.
In the second story, Lucia in London, Lucia's husband's aunt dies and throws them into deep mourning (although they haven't seen her in the 7 years she's been in the asylum)AND into the ownership of a house in a nice section of London. Lucia has never made it a secret of her distaste of London and its hustle-bustle, mindless actions, etc. When she visits it, she always longs to return to "dear Riseholme" with its quiet and its culture. But now it appears that she is determined to move to London. Will she really go? Will she decided to stay? What will happen to the Hurst, her house in Riseholm? And who will take over the social programming?
Lucia's neighbors are a wonderful lot as well. Georgie (or Georgino, since they MUST speak Italian!) is not married, lives by himself, accompanies Lucia in her piano duets and embroiders. Mrs. Quantock, short and round, moves from one fad to the next - spiritualism, yoga, onion soup diets, you name it. Mrs. Antrobus who can't hear a thing in spite of her enormous ear trumpet. Mrs. Weston who rides all day in a bath chair, pushed by one servant or another at a breakneck speed around the town. And others too numerous to mention.
Another story on a different heroine, Miss Mapp, is included as well. Miss Mapp is around 40 and has her eye on the Major who lives just across the street. In more way than one. Miss Mapp has a bow window in her garden room from which she can watch the entire street to catch someone doing something he/she ought not. She is worried that her servants are using her phone for their own purposes, she MUST be the one who starts gossip spinning around town, can NEVER be wrong about what's happening in the town, and never hesitates to explain the the Major and the Captain how they must lead their lives.
In short, these two ladies typify English small town life between the Great War and the Great Depression. The humor is sharp, the characters all complicit, and the writing sweet. E. F. Benson is well worth reading.
January 8, 2011
I've read and re-read the Mapp and Lucia books for 40 years. They're my 'go-to' books for escape, relaxation and humour. My children grew up seeing these books always on my bedside table - and they're still there. They were so used to seeing me read them that when I met my daughter in Rye at the beginning of a 6 week trip through Europe, she arranged with the local Benson expert to give us a walking tour of 'Mapp and Lucia's Tilling' - even though it was off season and we were the only ones on the tour. Benson describes Tilling so well that when I finally got to Rye for the first time, I knew every street and lookout.
December 23, 2014
Simply a delight of satire and fun. Who could not find the Lucia and Mapp books a joy to read and re-read? For once the TV adaptation was close to the books and the first from the BBC was by far the best with Geraldine McEwen and Prunella Scales as the protagonists.
December 24, 2008
I keep this book by my bed always. I've read it multiple times, and I feel like I know the characters as well as I know my neighbors. This volume contains Books 1-3 of the "Lucia" Stories. How to describe? One of the FUNNIEST books I've ever read, certainly. It relates the tales of Lucia, a self-important, pretentious middle-aged poseur who strives to be the queen bee of her little village, Riseholme. She insists on speaking butchered Italian (but knows only about 15 words -- when the Italian opera singer comes to town and they seat her next to Lucia at a luncheon, embarrassment ensues), always has to be the best at everything, and orders her best friend Georgie (a confirmed bachelor with an interest in petitpoint embroidery) around as her minion. They are always getting into sticky situations and trying to preserve their top standing in the neighborhood. She does everything for show, nothing because she actually means it. Everyone else in the village is totally onto her, but she lives with rose-colored glasses on and is convinced that everyone adores her.
After you read this, read "Lucia Victrix" where Lucia meets a nemesis who's up to playing her dastardly games of oneupmanship, Miss Elizabeth Mapp.
After you read this, read "Lucia Victrix" where Lucia meets a nemesis who's up to playing her dastardly games of oneupmanship, Miss Elizabeth Mapp.
July 18, 2024
This series is an old favorite, but this is the first time I've enjoyed it as an audiobook. I always hear a book a little differently than I see it. This time around I notice the contrast between Mapp's spite and Lucia's snobbery. I find Lucia more loveable, but Mapp's pungency makes her somewhat more interesting--though I did find her spitefulness rather wearing by the end of her volume.
Another thing I found intriguing was the way all three novels are about social interaction as performance. The books are a century old, so this made me wonder just how much social media has changed the way we think of our lives. Has it really made life more superficial, turning every aspect into performance, or has it merely expanded the audience each of us may access? I had never given any thought before now to what it was Benson had to say. I'd only ever just enjoyed the delicious writing and magical farce.
Another thing I found intriguing was the way all three novels are about social interaction as performance. The books are a century old, so this made me wonder just how much social media has changed the way we think of our lives. Has it really made life more superficial, turning every aspect into performance, or has it merely expanded the audience each of us may access? I had never given any thought before now to what it was Benson had to say. I'd only ever just enjoyed the delicious writing and magical farce.
May 20, 2015
Delightful read for all fans of pleasant social satire. This volume, which contains 3 titles - Queen Lucia, Miss Mapp and Lucia in London – along with it’s companion volume is a bargain to own for all those fans of the witty, malicious comedy which happens between Lucia and her archrival Ms Mapp.
April 18, 2017
Slow starting. Didn't like the characters at first. Thought the cultural snobbery was laid on too thick. Then the characters started to grow on me. But the back and forth one-upmanship just grew tedious. Finished it but don't think I will read anymore in the series.
February 19, 2021
Book 3: Lucia in London ✅
Honestly loved all three of these stories! Lucia’s antics in London were so funny and it was just delicious.
Honestly loved all three of these stories! Lucia’s antics in London were so funny and it was just delicious.
October 11, 2021
The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata came on the radio today and I thought, 'if Lucia can play that, then so can I!' Such is literary fantasy, I have never played any piano, ever. Now I am reviewing this before I have even finished reading it, so delicious is the farcical, descriptive prose and reported speech of Fred Benson. He never lets up and this becomes one of those books that you may hesitate to read in public lest you embarrass yourself on a train. Nobody would notice on a bus, they would all have headphones on, gaming on the phone.
The phrase 'cat eating tact' must serve as a non-spoiler, taster for neophytes.
And while we are on the subject, please, reviewers of E.F.Benson's Mapp and Lucia stories, don't give away ALL the plot points in your reviews! Let people discover, learn and laugh themselves silly all by themselves.
The phrase 'cat eating tact' must serve as a non-spoiler, taster for neophytes.
And while we are on the subject, please, reviewers of E.F.Benson's Mapp and Lucia stories, don't give away ALL the plot points in your reviews! Let people discover, learn and laugh themselves silly all by themselves.
July 15, 2022
A COMEDY OF MANNERS AND SOCIAL DOMINANCE
I am finally experiencing this series. It is absolutely made for audio (I listened to the audiobook version of this title, read by Georgina Sutton, who does an excellent job of portraying these 2 women and their various social circles).
If, like me, you mistakenly thought that ‘Lucia’ Lucas and Elizabeth Mapp were interacting within the same social circles, you’ll be quite disappointed.
These are 3 stories, the 1st and 3rd about Lucia, in her hometown of Riseholme and in London, for the ‘Season’. The 2nd is about Elizabeth Mapp in her hometown of Tilling. The stories are independent of each other and give a background/explanation of how each woman operates (rules) her ‘world’.
I believe that they ‘clash’ in the next volume of 3 stories.
They are both quite manipulative women - I would say that Lucia takes the crown in that stake. They are both thoroughly self absorbed and truly have no redeeming qualities, really. (That might be a bit harsh, but when you read it, you’ll understand).
It’s a fascinating car crash of tales within 3 stories! You wouldn’t want to live in their towns, or involve yourself too closely with them!!!
Fascinating, enjoyable glimpses of life in the 1920s.
I am finally experiencing this series. It is absolutely made for audio (I listened to the audiobook version of this title, read by Georgina Sutton, who does an excellent job of portraying these 2 women and their various social circles).
If, like me, you mistakenly thought that ‘Lucia’ Lucas and Elizabeth Mapp were interacting within the same social circles, you’ll be quite disappointed.
These are 3 stories, the 1st and 3rd about Lucia, in her hometown of Riseholme and in London, for the ‘Season’. The 2nd is about Elizabeth Mapp in her hometown of Tilling. The stories are independent of each other and give a background/explanation of how each woman operates (rules) her ‘world’.
I believe that they ‘clash’ in the next volume of 3 stories.
They are both quite manipulative women - I would say that Lucia takes the crown in that stake. They are both thoroughly self absorbed and truly have no redeeming qualities, really. (That might be a bit harsh, but when you read it, you’ll understand).
It’s a fascinating car crash of tales within 3 stories! You wouldn’t want to live in their towns, or involve yourself too closely with them!!!
Fascinating, enjoyable glimpses of life in the 1920s.
August 7, 2012
Hilarious! A wonderful portrayal of small-town snobbery in the 1920s. Refined and lady-like, Lucia will nevertheless go to any lengths to assert her supremacy over her rivals - and no trick is too underhand for her (including stealing everyone else's good ideas!). Yet, despite her affectations and devious tricks, she enlivens her community. She's the sort of person you miss when she's not there, although her presence can be highly irritating to all. A wonderful read. Although written some time ago, you can still recognise the character types.
Added information: the town called Tilling that appears in later books is actually Rye in Sussex. The author E.F. Benson lived there in Lamb House - which also housed Henry James at one point. What a literary heritage! (You can get inside to see the ground floor and garden as it is run by the National Trust).
Added information: the town called Tilling that appears in later books is actually Rye in Sussex. The author E.F. Benson lived there in Lamb House - which also housed Henry James at one point. What a literary heritage! (You can get inside to see the ground floor and garden as it is run by the National Trust).
July 1, 2020
This comedy of manners was the perfect offset for a tough day (or days) of the Covid-19 craziness! If the worst news I got in any given day was when the village learned I wasn't really fluent in Italian or that one of my nosy neighbors wondered why my lights were on late into the evening I think I could survive :-)
I preferred Ms Mapp to Lucia, but it's the first of these books that I've read so I am willing to change my mind.
I'd highly recommend these for anyone who wants to laugh at the British not quite aristocracy
I preferred Ms Mapp to Lucia, but it's the first of these books that I've read so I am willing to change my mind.
I'd highly recommend these for anyone who wants to laugh at the British not quite aristocracy
May 11, 2019
Exceptionally funny and ridiculous characters. Beautiful writing, scathing in its depictions of completely self- obsessed middle class pretensions and idleness. I rarely find supposedly humorous writing at all funny but nearly every paragraph has some damning but witty line or absurd scenario. Love.
September 26, 2007
It's a shame E.F. Benson only wrote 6 Lucia books! Good thing they are all available in 2 yummy volumes! Lucia and her archrival Ms Mapp are hands down two of the funniest, most malicious enemies to ever see print. Multiple rereadings of this book have not made it any less funny!
August 7, 2012
The older I get, the more convinced I am that humor is a completely neglected genre. Not enough people celebrate the ridiculous. Lucia and all the people of Riseholme and Tilling are ridiculous in the extreme, and Lucia's feud with Olga is better than Elizabeth Bennett and Katherine deBourgh.
October 18, 2011
Deliciously satirical and entertaining observations of the human condition!
January 4, 2012
I enjoyed these 3 novels so much I'm actually putting off getting the next volume because I don't want to finish them too quickly! Absolutely wonderful.
January 31, 2015
An almost unbearable pleasure.
July 23, 2011
Witty, cheeky, very British. Hurrah!
May 12, 2020
A friend recommended the Mapp and Lucia books to me some time ago, and I got given this omnibus for my birthday this year. Having read the first two (of three) volumes in this collection, I'm firmly of the opinion that I'm not going to read the third, nor will I be looking for volume 2 of this series. I didn't hugely enjoy either book, although I preferred Queen Lucia to Miss Mapp, the eponymous protagonist of which I actively disliked. Individual reviews below.
== Queen Lucia ==
Mrs Emmeline Lucas, universally known in the village of Riseholme, where she lives, as Lucia, is the undisputed reigning monarch of the village, in culture, music and art. Riseholme is awash with well-off, bored inhabitants, all heavily invested in the tiny dramas that play out in the village, from the saga of the guru to the mystery of who's taken the empty house. Lucia is a ridiculous, pompous creature, but entertaining in her own way.
The strange baby talk that she indulges in with her "grand vizier", the rather camp Georgie is odd (and a little creepy to my mind). Georgie is possibly the most sympathetic character in the book, although he's no less ridiculous than the rest of them. The inhabitants of Riseholme, while all scheming and gossiping, for the most part aren't actively malicious towards each other. Lucia has a need to be the centre of attention and sometimes does underhand things to achieve that, but she usually gets her just desserts.
Three stars.
== Miss Mapp ==
Miss Elizabeth Mapp lives in the village of Tilling, where she aspires to fill a similar role to Lucia, but is more just a hate-filled, hypocritical shrew. She has shallow, rivalry-filled friendships with her neighbours and spends her evenings plotting and playing bridge.
The most enjoyable relationship in this book was that between the "frenemies" Major Flint and Captain Puffin, who spend their days playing golf together, and their evenings "writing memoires" and "researching Roman roads" respectively. Miss Mapp's intervention in that friendship especially made me quite angry.
I wasn't interested in the stories of these people at all (although the duel was quite entertaining to begin with). I found myself waiting for Mapp to get her comeuppance on a regular basis, which isn't the basis for me to enjoy a book at all.
Two stars.
== Queen Lucia ==
Mrs Emmeline Lucas, universally known in the village of Riseholme, where she lives, as Lucia, is the undisputed reigning monarch of the village, in culture, music and art. Riseholme is awash with well-off, bored inhabitants, all heavily invested in the tiny dramas that play out in the village, from the saga of the guru to the mystery of who's taken the empty house. Lucia is a ridiculous, pompous creature, but entertaining in her own way.
The strange baby talk that she indulges in with her "grand vizier", the rather camp Georgie is odd (and a little creepy to my mind). Georgie is possibly the most sympathetic character in the book, although he's no less ridiculous than the rest of them. The inhabitants of Riseholme, while all scheming and gossiping, for the most part aren't actively malicious towards each other. Lucia has a need to be the centre of attention and sometimes does underhand things to achieve that, but she usually gets her just desserts.
Three stars.
== Miss Mapp ==
Miss Elizabeth Mapp lives in the village of Tilling, where she aspires to fill a similar role to Lucia, but is more just a hate-filled, hypocritical shrew. She has shallow, rivalry-filled friendships with her neighbours and spends her evenings plotting and playing bridge.
The most enjoyable relationship in this book was that between the "frenemies" Major Flint and Captain Puffin, who spend their days playing golf together, and their evenings "writing memoires" and "researching Roman roads" respectively. Miss Mapp's intervention in that friendship especially made me quite angry.
I wasn't interested in the stories of these people at all (although the duel was quite entertaining to begin with). I found myself waiting for Mapp to get her comeuppance on a regular basis, which isn't the basis for me to enjoy a book at all.
Two stars.
January 10, 2022
(Partial review: book 1 - Queen Lucia - only)
The well-to-do inhabitants of the quaint English village of Riseholme live a comfortable life of social engagements and cultured pastimes. The self-styled “Lucia” sees herself as superior to all others in terms of refinement and social importance, but she’s not the only one with pretensions and schemes. A series of fads test the allegiances of her friends, the effete and somewhat camp bachelor Georgie, and the gullible Mrs Quantock.
At its best, Queen Lucia is gently but mischievously funny and there is a lot of warmth mixed in with the catty spitefulness and snobbery of the social competitors. The gentle mocking of affectations and status symbols has aged fairly well for a novel which is now more than 100 years old. There were a few points where I felt the plot lost steam, partly because it is quite episodic for much of the way - when one subplot is resolved, it takes a while to get going again. There are a few incidences of casual racism of the sort sadly unsurprising in a book of this vintage written by a privileged, white, English man.
The audiobook is enjoyably narrated by Georgina Sutton.
The well-to-do inhabitants of the quaint English village of Riseholme live a comfortable life of social engagements and cultured pastimes. The self-styled “Lucia” sees herself as superior to all others in terms of refinement and social importance, but she’s not the only one with pretensions and schemes. A series of fads test the allegiances of her friends, the effete and somewhat camp bachelor Georgie, and the gullible Mrs Quantock.
At its best, Queen Lucia is gently but mischievously funny and there is a lot of warmth mixed in with the catty spitefulness and snobbery of the social competitors. The gentle mocking of affectations and status symbols has aged fairly well for a novel which is now more than 100 years old. There were a few points where I felt the plot lost steam, partly because it is quite episodic for much of the way - when one subplot is resolved, it takes a while to get going again. There are a few incidences of casual racism of the sort sadly unsurprising in a book of this vintage written by a privileged, white, English man.
The audiobook is enjoyably narrated by Georgina Sutton.
October 13, 2023
What the hell am I listening to? Nup, this is not one I want to read. I can't stand the writing style, and the characters are doing nothing for me, and it's not as if I don't like books from this time. Ditched it after an hour or so of boredom.
June 28, 2017
Utterly divine and not at all tarsome.
June 30, 2017
I feel this should count as 3 towards my Reading Challenge since it's an omnibus edition!
May 16, 2022
I can never get enough of Mapp and Lucia. This time I got sucked into the audiobook edition, narrated wonderfully by Georgina Sutton. Highly recommended.
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September 4, 2022who was gonna tell me that nearly everyone in ef benson's immediate family was queer and manic depressive or did I just have to find out when I skimmed the introduction in the library today
January 29, 2024
What a hoot! Loved it!
February 16, 2024
So entertaining but a little too long
January 23, 2025
Good fun
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews