Trouble For Lucia

The final instalment in the wonderful Lucia series. Lucia must yet again lie, trick and deceive to maintain social position as the queen of Tilling. Lucia is probably the greatest creation of E. F. Benson, a social climbing socialite from the small village of Riseholme. A beautifully written and sharply observed comedy, exploring the social life of Edwardian high society This novel, originally published in 1939, is being republished here together with a new introductory biography of the author.

Make Way For Lucia, also known as Mapp and Lucia, is a collective name for a series of novels by E. F. Benson about Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas and Elizabeth Mapp. The novels feature humorous incidents in the lives of (mainly) upper-middle-class British people in the 1920s and 1930s, vying for social prestige and one-upmanship in an atmosphere of extreme cultural snobbery. Several of them are set in the small seaside town of Tilling, closely based on Rye, East Sussex, where Benson lived for a number of years and served as mayor. Contents: Queen Lucia Miss Mapp Lucia in London Mapp and Lucia Lucia's Progress or The Worshipful Lucia Trouble for Lucia The Male Impersonator Desirable Residences Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer, known professionally as E.F. Benson. He started his novel writing career in 1893 with the fashionably controversial Dodo, which was an instant success, and followed it with a variety of satire and romantic and supernatural melodrama. He repeated the success of Dodo, with sequels to this novel, but the greatest success came relatively late in his career with The Mapp and Lucia series consisting of six novels and two short stories. Benson was also known as a writer of atmospheric, oblique, and at times humorous or satirical ghost stories.

'Miss Mapp' is the second novel from the 'Mapp and Lucia' series, following the life of a progressive woman who spends her days gossiping and scheming. One must tread carefully in society, or at least so Miss Mapp thinks. In a hilarious display of snobbish one-upmanship, Miss Mapp considers her every move and its possible outcome with the deftness and skill of a master chess player. God forbid she lose an ounce of social standing! But the village of Tilling becomes a battleground where romances and rumours have ensnared its inhabitants in a ruthless battle for domination. The idyllic setting, delicate daily routines and witty escapades make 'Miss Mapp' a compelling and intriguing read. It has been adapted into an ongoing TV miniseries called 'Mapp & Lucia' starring Miranda Richardson, Anna Chancellor, Poppy Miller and Felicity Montagu. Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was a British archeologist and author, who wrote under the pen name E. F. Benson. Originally from Berkshire, he studied at Cambridge University and published his first novel 'Dodo' in 1893. It was an instant success. He was a prolific novelist, and wrote in a blend of satire, science-fiction, supernatural and romantic melodramas and has been admired by later authors such as H. P. Lovecraft. He was also a reputed memoirist, and wrote amongst others a biography of Charlotte Brontë. Benson was a very discreet character but it is widely assumed that he was homosexual, of which traces can be found in the circles he kept as well as in his fiction. He never married and passed away in 1940 at age 72.

Miss Mapp and Lucia return in the fifth instalment of E. F. Benson's classic series. Here we find Lucia battling here way to the top of the social ladder in the small village of Tilling, Miss Mapp here nemesis will not let that happen with out a very polite and gentile fight. This novel, originally published in 1935, is being republished here together with a new introductory biography of the author.

The sixth and final volume of E.F. Benson’s wildly satirical take on the Edwardian English upper class. The books were recently adapted by the BBC into a mini-series starring Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss. In their final showdown, Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Mrs. Emeline “Lucia” Lucas face off in Tilling, vying for the top spot in the village’s social scene. When Lucia is elected Mayor, she decides to keep her competition close by naming her Mayoress. Her plan isn’t entirely successful, and the two work ceaseless to undercut and one-up each other. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

Lucia's Progress and Trouble for Lucia are the fifth and sixth novels in E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia series. They chronicle the ongoing battles of his most famous and irrepressible characters - Mrs. Lucia Lucas and Miss Elizabeth Mapp. Both women have been used to dominating their social circles; the idyllic seaside village of Tilling proves too small for both of them. Lucia is the more deadly of the two, with lofty morals, pretentious tastes, and a lust for power, while Mapp is younger, more forceful, and able to terrify her opponents into submission. While both are hypocritical snobs, Lucia is animated by splendid delusions of grandeur and Mapp by insatiable curiosity and chronic rage; their epic collisions rock their small society and provide the narrative engines for Benson's farcical masterpieces.

E. F. Benson’s beloved Mapp and Lucia novels are sparkling, classic comedies of manners set against the petty snobberies and competitive maneuverings of English village society in the 1920s and 1930s. The Worshipful Lucia (1935; published in the UK as Lucia’s Progress) and Trouble for Lucia (1939) are the last two novels in Benson’s series. They chronicle the ongoing battles of his famous characters—Mrs. Lucia Lucas and Miss Elizabeth Mapp—in the idyllic seaside village of Tilling, which proves too small to contain both of them. While both are hypocritical snobs, Lucia is animated by marvelous delusions of grandeur and Mapp by insatiable curiosity and chronic rage; their epic collisions rock their small society and provide the narrative engines for Benson’s gloriously farcical masterpieces.