From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads…

Miss Mapp (Lucia, #2)

E.F. Benson

Start date: August 20, 2023

Finish date: September 19, 2023

Discussion: Buddy reads

Discussion leader: Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂

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What Members Thought

Sep 25, 2017 mark monday rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: world-of-insects, masterpiece-theatre, rain-man-reviews, z-ef-benson

Darlings, you simply must join us for...

A BATTLE ROYALE AT TILLING VILLAGE!

We have a scintillating lineup of local dignitaries pitted one against the other, prepared for fierce battle through tea time and perhaps up until a light supper, served buffet style on the sideboard. The stakes are high: losers risk a decided loss of self-esteem, diminished social cachet, quickly extinguished laughter from clusters of villagers idling in front of the market, and a range of droll expressions made at their ...more

50 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2023 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: humour

3.5★ because I didn't enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed Queen Lucia

The main problem is whilst I quite like Lucia (my laughter was kind) I can't stand Miss Mapp. I don't think we are meant to like her, (I don't think Benson enjoyed spending time with her either!) & I'm sure she makes village life in Tilling absolutely miserable! My favourite moments are when the Contessa tells her a few home truths!

& while E.F. Benson did a really good job getting into Lucia's head, Elizabeth's Mapp's behaviour ...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Susan in NC rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, favorites, my-library, currently-re-reading, tbr-with-gr-groups, reread, want-to-reread, tbr-retro

8/8/2023: I adore Nadia May narrating this book, and will probably listen yet again, it’s so fun and funny. The energy Miss Mapp puts into spying on and trying to manipulate her neighbors is truly breathtaking! A great precursor to “Mapp & Lucia”, in which the two titans clash for the honor of being queen of Tilling society.

3/30/2023: Benson is still a go-to read for me for sheer enjoyment! After this reread, I am reminded how much the bossy, manipulative Miss Mapp had it coming to her when Que 8/8/2023: I adore Nadia May narrating this book, and will probably listen yet again, it’s so fun and funny. The energy Miss Mapp puts into spying on and trying to manipulate her neighbors is truly breathtaking! A great precursor to “Mapp & Lucia”, in which the two titans clash for the honor of being queen of Tilling society.

3/30/2023: Benson is still a go-to read for me for sheer enjoyment! After this reread, I am reminded how much the bossy, manipulative Miss Mapp had it coming to her when Queen Lucia descended on Tilling in the next book (Mapp and Lucia), which I reread recently.

2017: I'm in the mood for fun, light reads, so decided to reread Benson's Lucia and Mapp books this year. I read Queen Lucia not long ago and was instantly immersed in the social schemes and vicious gossip of Riseholme; but divine Lucia, charming Georgie and the delightful opera singer Olga Bracely are one thing, Miss Mapp is another!

She is truly one of the most scheming, hypocritical, suspicious and angry characters I've ever read, ruling Tilling with as iron a fist as Lucia rules Riseholme, but without the velvet glove! Miss Mapp shamelessly spies on her neighbors with opera glasses, claiming to be engrossed in her "sweet flowers" as she perches in her garden room at the head of Tilling's busiest street like a bird of prey, waiting to swoop on anything she considers not up to Tilling's (her) standards.

Like the other Lucia books, nothing much happens among these wealthy, middle-aged British villagers, but Benson weaves his brilliant spell and I am enthralled, trying to find uninterrupted stretches of time to indulge my addiction to his snarky, hilarious, brilliant writing, grinning like a fool and often laughing out loud...

The back of my beautiful Moyer Bell edition of this book best describes what I love about this book - indeed, all the Lucia books - it describes Miss Mapp as a fortyish spinster, "anger and the gravest suspicion of everybody had kept her young and on the boil...Nothing escapes her. Miss Mapp is a hilarious, sharply observed satire that lovingly but pointedly pokes fun at the feuds and foibles of English society in miniature." Perfectly delicious - I may skip Lucia in London and head right for the clash of the titans-Mapp and Lucia! ...more

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May 02, 2022 Elinor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is Mean Girls all over again, set in an English country village in the 1920s. And the meanest girl of all is a middle-aged woman who is so devious that she embodies the term gaslighting. She spies, schemes, lies and denies so skilfully that lesser intellects are left hurt and bewildered. The characters are memorable, especially Miss Mapp herself, and the writing is both clever and caustic. I'm subtracting one star only because the plot lacks any real drama, but relies on the constant twists ...more

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Sep 21, 2022 CindySR rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: clean-read, 2022, cup-of-tea-by-the-fireside

Funny characters and funny stories, yet confusing sometimes due to the writing style. Once I got used to it, I understood it better. Miss Mapp seems to be an ancestor of Hyacinth Bucket, only smarter. Now that I have been introduced to her and the village of Tilling, I can read Queen Lucia
Some knowledge of the games of bridge and golf might be useful to the average reader. ...more

1 like · Like · see review