Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: EF Benson

Showing posts with label EF Benson. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Trouble for Lucia (Mapp & Lucia #6) ★★★☆☆

Title: Trouble for Lucia
Series: Mapp & Lucia #6
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 281
Words: 81K

The final Mapp & Lucia book by Benson.

While I enjoyed this, I am at the same time glad it is over. Both Mapp and Lucia were so petty and small minded that it stopped being fun part way through it. In one instance Lucia is so taken up with presenting an “image” that she even freezes out her husband Georgie, who has been used to seeing her in private as she really is and loves that side of her. That was unpleasant to read about. Then Mapp. She becomes the Mayor’s Woman (a post to empower females) AND becomes a Town Councilor and her only goal is to stymie and undercut Lucia. The level of backstabbing and bickering jumps to a whole new level too.

There are still flashes of the humor from previous books but it wasn’t as prevalent. Definitely not a series I ever plan on re-reading and it really put the kabosh on me seeking anything else by Benson.

★★★☆☆

All My “Mapp & Lucia” Reviews

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Lucia’s Progress (Mapp & Lucia #5) ★★★✬☆

Title: Lucia’s Progress
Series: Mapp & Lucia #5
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 289
Words: 84K

So Lucia takes center stage again. Mapp, having married the Colonel, is now trying to domesticate him AND still be the preeminent woman of the town. She fakes being pregnant, runs for Town Council (and loses right along with Lucia) and generally continues to make a nuisance of herself. Lucia meanwhile, works in the background and pretty much succeeds at everything she does. While she also loses the election for Town Council, she wheedles her way into it after the fact and by the end of the book is probably going to be the first female Mayor. She also marries Georgie, of all people. Talk about an Odd Couple.

I think I enjoyed this book a little bit more than some of the previous ones. Most of it was because the drama, while “big”, was handled in such a way that it was almost matter of fact and not raising my blood pressure.

I also had to practically chortle over Lucia and Georgie getting married. He’s as fuddy duddy and yet dandy’ish as you could ask for in a middle aged gentleman who still thinks that nobody knows he dyes his hair. He likes to knit and do water colors too. He just wants a comfortable life and for someone else to do all the driving. Lucia is more than glad to take charge and considering she and Georgie play the piano together and do almost everything together, them getting married was more of a convenience thing than a passionate midlife crisis thing. Like I said, it made me laugh and that was good.

While I did say I enjoyed this more than most of the previous books, there were still some things that bugged me so I couldn’t really give it 4stars. My main issue remains how backstabb’y, petty and plain vindictive both Mapp and Lucia are towards the other. That is not how people should be. Even if you were to feel like that towards someone, you fight against it and don’t give in to it. It is wrong and to see that wrong’ness marginalized is what bothers me.

There is only one more book in this series and after that I think I’m going to have to go search out some more stuff by Edward Benson. I have enjoyed these very much and so I don’t see why I shouldn’t enjoy some other stuff by him. Of course, that assumes he did actually write other stuff. I have zero knowledge about that and I guess I’ll be finding out in a couple of months.

★★★✬☆

All My “Mapp & Lucia” Reviews

Friday, October 21, 2022

Mapp and Lucia (Mapp & Lucia #4) ★★★☆☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Mapp and Lucia
Series: Mapp & Lucia #4
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 292
Words: 84K

★★★☆☆

All My “Mapp & Lucia” Reviews

Tuesday, October 04, 2022

Lucia In London (Mapp & Lucia #3) ★★★☆☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Lucia In London
Series: Mapp & Lucia #3
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 292
Words: 84K

★★★☆☆

All My “Mapp & Lucia” Reviews

Friday, September 16, 2022

Miss Mapp (Mapp & Lucia #2) ★★★✬☆

Title: Miss Mapp
Series: Mapp & Lucia #2
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 312
Words: 90K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org

Miss Elizabeth Mapp presides over the High Street of the seaside town of Tilling, keeping tabs on all of the gossip, and directing social activity. She competes in bitter rivalry with a neighbor, Godiva Plaistow, over dress-making, and observes the battles over golf and alcohol between Captain Richard Puffin and Major Benjamin Flint. There are further social wars over daylight saving time, bridge games, and the significance of a neighbor being recognised as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

My Thoughts:

This felt very similar to Queen Lucia, in that a domineering and unsympathetic woman is the lead character and yet manages to amuse us, the readers, instead of making us rise in revolt and guillotine all such monstrosities.

While Mapp doesn’t have the airs of Lucia, she has that rock solid indomitableness of someone sure of their own rightness and superiority to every other person present.

In this story, Lucia isn’t present and the town is a different one altogether. I’m not sure how Mapp & Lucia will come together and even when/if they do, I am not sure how that will go. They’ll either be the greatest of friends presenting a united front against all others, or it will be a dynamite of a meeting with everyone else getting blown up by the meeting of the two titans.

I think the reason I am enjoying these is because the drama is so lowkey and absolutely meaningless to anyone outside of the town. It truly is a tempest in a teacup. I am not invested in who throws the best tea parties or who wears what dress, but I like seeing how people react to such things, because I know I react to such small things in my own life. If there is no drama in our lives, we will create it out of wholeclothe and bemoan it all at the same time. It’s amusing.

Also, keeping things around 300pages is just optimal in my opinion. An occasional big book is ok. Dickens for instance gets a pass. But not every author and not every time. Benson knows this and writes accordingly. I highly approve of his restraint and mastery.

Queen Lucia (Book 1)

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Queen Lucia (Mapp & Lucia #1) ★★★✬☆

Title: Queen Lucia
Series: Mapp & Lucia #1
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 317
Words: 86K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org

Emmeline Lucas is the social queen of Riseholme, presiding over her community and directing their interests in art and culture. A pretentious show-off, La Lucia drops random Italian phrases into her speech, gives concerts to her friends of the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, dabbles in art, and plants Shakespeare-themed flower arrangements in her garden. Her neighbor, devoted faddist Daisy Quantock, has given up her uric-acid-free diet and Christian Science to focus on Indian mysticism, thanks to a mysterious guru who shows up at her door and offers to show her the Way. Lucia must decide how to annex the guru, and turn this into a social success for herself. Daisy then brings in a Russian medium, Princess Popoffski. Lucia has a harder time when opera diva Olga Bracely arrives in Riseholme for a visit, luring away Lucia’s devoted friend Georgie Pillson.

My Thoughts:

There was a distinct lack of Mapp in this book. I’m not really worried about that, as I’m sure whoever Mapp is will show up in later books. But it is annoying to me so I figured I’d vent my spleen before writing anything else.

So Lucia is a prima donna in a small town and rules the roost. She’s the social queen and is used to getting her own way in practically everything. That could be annoying, but Benson provides plenty of foils in the comedic vein so it is amusing rather than annoying.

This story was ALL about the characters. Lucia was just the fulcrum but all of the other main side characters were just as important. From the sham guru to the fake psychic to the very real opera singer to the best friend Georgie Pillson caught in the middle of it all. This is a set of character sketches in various social settings, all of them awkward yet amusing.

I did have to read this in smaller doses instead of all at once, but each story was pretty self-contained so it was easy to read about one instance and then take a break. I am really hoping that whoever Mapp is that I’ll meet her in the next book, because otherwise I’ll be changing the name of this series to “Lucia” and going off on a rant and do a lot of ree’ing like a little baby.