Lucia in London (The Mapp & Lucia Novels, #3) in Retro Reads

Oct 15, 2023 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, humour

4.5★

It pains me not to be able to give this Lucia novel the full 5★*, as I think it is the funniest one yet!

I was close to tears a couple of times, while my husband looked at me with some bewilderment while I struggled to hold the enormous omnibus I own

in my hands (& resting on one knee!)

Peppino (who more than ever makes me think of Richard in Keeping Up Appearances)

has an inheritance from an aunt that includes a very desirable residence in London. It was Benson's home in real ...more

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Sep 10, 2014 mark monday rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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

Darlings, you simply must visit London! The charmed village of Riseholme may be a country seat of unsurpassed delicacy and dignity when compared to the stridently au courant London Town of the 1920s... but with Riseholme's very own Queen Lucia spending her summer season at 25 Brompton Square, that notorious city of faddish layabouts has at last been given a sheen of class and taste. However temporarily that may be! For despite her quick accumulation of Lords and Duchesses and Rich London Eccentr Darlings, you simply must visit London! The charmed village of Riseholme may be a country seat of unsurpassed delicacy and dignity when compared to the stridently au courant London Town of the 1920s... but with Riseholme's very own Queen Lucia spending her summer season at 25 Brompton Square, that notorious city of faddish layabouts has at last been given a sheen of class and taste. However temporarily that may be! For despite her quick accumulation of Lords and Duchesses and Rich London Eccentrics added to her table and parlour, surely her heart must still dwell within graceful Riseholme? Surely it must! It cannot be that the Empress of that delicious village, its doyenne of style, its mistress of manipulation, its swift trouncer of all rivals... couldn't be throwing over Riseholme in favour of the dubious pleasures and unusual smells of the former Londinium? Yes, it is true, we have all heard the rumours... she has remade herself, crimped her hair and shortened her skirt, all the better to keep up with those too-fashionable London wags and tarts... she has even acquired and deputized her own London version of Riseholme's precious Georgie - complete with Georgie's fluttering hands and his sailor's trousers and even his daring little cape - to be her own London lady-in-waiting. Poor, sweet Georgie - has he been supplanted? Has fair Riseholme itself been superseded? It cannot be! Well, as we sort out this dreadful mystery, at least we are still able to sit back and enjoy Lucia make short work of London's tarsome social mores and strictures. No one knows how to climb more swiftly than Lucia!

Dearest Lucia may be incorrigible when it comes to her forever-burning desire for social dominance, for recognition as the ultimo word on what is or is not in vogue, for all others to pay homage at the altar of High Culture that she has constructed... but all that said, Queen Lucia is certainly no common snob. What Lucia loves is Life Itself, in all of its quaint smallness and all of its grand largeness. Lucia equals Living! Her mind may be narrow but her appetite for life is wide and all-encompassing. Nothing is too small for Lucia to domineer over! Let us enjoy the spectacle of Lucia devouring whatever crosses her path.

So it is for both the residents of Riseholme and the crème de la crème of London. All must love Lucia, because she makes things so very interesting. And so it is for the readers of "Lucia in London"... Lucia and the world around her may be viewed with a certain sarcastic sharpness, an eyeroll or a snort or a disdainful curl of the lip at the ongoing misadventures of this exquisitely monstrous woman... but there must be a measure of generosity within that viewpoint as well. Or even admiration! E.F. Benson has a sure way with words, his prose dainty and his tone arch, his narrative one that parodies superficiality and upward mobility and the relentless chasing of fads and fashions, the entire endeavor a stiletto pricking the inflated egos and petty ambitions of the Riseholmites, his story even daring to pop the gaudy balloon of La Lucia herself... but Mr. Benson also adores her, and all of his creations. There may not be much of substance in these glorious human macaroons, but they are wonderfully delectable. Lucia most of all!

Darlings, you simply must visit Lucia in London. She's so frightfully picturesque! ...more

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Oct 28, 2023 Elinor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Another delightful book in this series, although I rather missed Lucia’s adversary, Miss Mapp, who isn’t even mentioned here. Lucia leaps at the chance to increase her sphere of influence when her husband inherits a house in London, and launches into a gay mad social whirl. Feeling deserted, the inhabitants of Riseholme are determined to do without Lucia’s firm hand and for a while they almost succeed.

The writing is brilliant, as ever. I loved this description of one of Lucia’s newfound friends ...more

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Oct 11, 2023 Susan in NC rated it really liked it

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

4.5 stars - very enjoyable reread, but I think I prefer Lucia in Riseholme or Tilling! I am a devoted Luciaphile, and have read the series a few times, collecting used editions and audiobooks- there are some delightful narrators of these books!

Oddly, I’ve only read this book once, and never reviewed it. That’s a shame , because it is hilarious and awe-inspiring watching Lucia tackle London society when her husband’s ancient aunt passes away and leaves him her house in Brampton Square. Hilarious ...more

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May 08, 2022 Lisa Brantly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 20th-century, desert-island, fiction, humor, britian

Delicious!

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Apr 12, 2016 Tania rated it it was amazing

Shelves: humour

I love this series of books. Written between the Wars, but the real world rarely touches them. In this one, Lucia having dominated the social circle of Risholme, has set her sights on London when her husband has been left a house. She is a very determined social climber who makes a fantastic and very funny character. Thank God I don't have to be friends with her though. ...more

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