Oh, to be reading this for the first time again...

books:


	• Queen Lucia (Black Swan) E. F. Benson Black Swan Books, 1984 - 266 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Queen Lucia

I love this book.

Perhaps that needs a little background. This book was sent to me by a dear older friend (who has now sadly passed away) when I was a teenager. I started reading it, expecting it to be kind of dull.

Well, to be honest, at first I wasn't engrossed. I was about a quarter of the way (or more) into this book before I began to get interested. E.F. Benson is a very wordy writer. He spends a long time dwelling on what people look like and how they do things.

But by the time I got through all the descriptions and wordiness, I discovered that those words had been a painter's palate, and my mind the canvas - because suddenly I found that I had marvelously clear and colorful images of all the characters in my mind. I knew how they looked and how they acted, and when the story really began to take shape, I avidly followed it to its conclusion.

It's just a simple little story of a handful of people who are essentially the main busy-bodies of a small town in England. Not very engrossing? Think again. By the time you finish reading this book they will be your best friends.

Give this book a chance. Wade through the first part, where you're thinking that the descriptions will never end, and wonder when the "real" story will start. By the end, you will be in love - and, like I did, you'll keep coming back for more.

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A must buy: Reader Geraldine McEwan IS Lucia

Since the other reviews here relate to the printed version of the E.F. Benson book, I thought I'd chime in with a review that is specific to this CD version read by Geraldine McEwan.

McEwan starred as Lucia in the delightful "Mapp and Lucia" series in the mid-1980s. It's out on DVD now and I highly recommend you snatch it up immediately before it goes out of print. It's one of the very best British comedies ever.

In the series, McEwan establishes what I consider to be the definitive version of Lucia. She is so delightful that as soon as I found out her readings of two of the Lucia books had also been recorded, I bought them -- although I had never purchased books on tape/CD before.

Suffice it so say, I was not disappointed. McEwan is a wonderful reader who brings out all the wit of the books, and I can't stress enough how marvelous it is to hear her once again using her "Lucia voice."

This has my highest recommendation.

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A Treasure!!!

It is clear why there are societies devoted to both author E.F. Benson and his six delightful "Mapp and Lucia" novels. Benson became known for this beloved, satirical series which has dry British wit and lightness reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse (although Wodehouse is in a class by himself), but he was equally superb at ghost/supernatural stories. The fact that he excelled at two vastly different styles and genres is fascinating.

This first book, Queen Lucia, introduces the inimitable Emmeline Lucas (Lucia to her friends), social arbiter and queen of the quaint hamlet of Riseholme, who finds her throne in jeopardy with the arrival of Olga Braceley, an opera singer. No one is better at social satire (and satire of British class systems) than the British and yet these timeless characters and their quirky ambitions are recognizable to anyone. Husband Phillip (known as Peppino) puts out his own printing press. There is Lucia's foppish neighbor and best friend, Georgie Pillson, who keeps her current in gossip, joins her at the piano in classical duets and converses with her in smatterings of bad Italian and baby talk; neighbor Daisy Quantock who ruffles Lucia's fur by introducing a "Guru" to the community and igniting yoga fever; and other colorful characters. From the beginning, I was laughing out loud at humor that is dry, absurd and priceless.

This series was also brought brilliantly to life by a PBS TV series "Mapp and Lucia" in which Prunella Scales stars as Lucia and Geraldine McEwan as Lucia's rival (introduced in a later book), Miss Mapp, both women terrific. Like the books, the series had me laughing out loud.

The first and fourth books are the best, but highly recommend reading them all. Humor is a great tonic.

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Oh, to be reading this for the first time again...

But it absolutely repays repeated visits, as well. E. F. Benson, the probably homosexual son of a Victorian Archbishop of Canterbury and a noted lesbian, has a marvelous eye for the inter-war social scene in Upper Middle-Class England.

This is the first book of the series, where we meet Lucia and her redoubtable aide-de-camp the utterly charming Georgie. The first chapter is probably the slowest in the whole series--it takes a while to introduce these improbably horrid people

And they are--for the most part--truly horrid. Benson's gift is in making it quite clear he loves these ghastly people, and by the end of the book so do we. What is worse (or better) is recognizing one's friends in the characters of the book. Even more shocking, this reader will at times recognize traits of his own (I won't share which character I think I am most like). Human nature is less changing than we like to think in these early years of the twenty-first century.

Benson lovingly skewers the foible of his own age and does so with a slice of society no larger than any portrayed by Jane Austen. His eye is as keenly observant as hers, but his humor much more developed.

A certain level of sophistication makes these books more enjoyable, but there is something for anyone who enjoys a good read. There is nothing in here that would make the even the most prudish blush, but they are definitely for an adult taste.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The energetic, pretentious and often malicious Lucia's reign over Riseholme's gentry is challenged by Olga, the dazzling diva. A fraudulent guru and the exposure of her faulty Italian never quite puncture Lucia's inflated ego. Almost a laugh per page! Four 90-minute cassettes and two 60's.

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