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Mapp and Lucia

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Mapp and Lucia

By: E. F. Benson
Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
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About this listen

Mapp and Lucia is the centrepiece of E. F. Benson's series of Lucia novels - bringing together for the first time the eponymous middle-aged doyennes of polite 1930s society Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Luca (Lucia to her friends).

Lucia, recently widowed, is the newcomer to the village of Tilling and eager to wrest the reins of social supremacy from the incumbant Miss Mapp and install herself as its benevolent dictator. In their polite acts of sabotage and ruthless jockeying for the position of cultural arbiter Mapp and Lucia tear up the conventions of drawing-room bridge evenings as their deadly weapons.

Things finally come to a head with Miss Mapp's audacious attempt to steal her rival's celebrated Lobster a la Riseholme. E.F. Benson's charming satrical bent turns the pretensions and snobberies of English village life into a vicious comedy.

©1931 E. F. Benson (P)2010 Hachette Digital Classics Literature & Fiction Comedy Funny Witty Village

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All stars
Most relevant  
A well told story of competition between the two and life of the gentile in the 1930s.

Mapp & Lucia

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a very funny book and an excellent narrator, only slight negative is that it is very much abridged.

great fun

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It's impossible to not be drawn into the world of Mapp and Lucia, as well as the superb Georgie. The struggles for power, the subtle ploys and the overt manipulation. Politicians could take lessons from the ladies of Riseholme and Tilling. The stories are read with verve and a full appreciation of Benson's style. My only complaint is that this is an abridged version, there's just not enough!

Perfectamundo!

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Brilliantly read, entertaining and fun. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this story of privileged, upper class busy bodies from a time gone by.

Beautifully read

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Sadly this is an abridged version of the book, but still hugely enjoyable when read by the brilliant Miriam Margolyes!

Enjoyable.

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Really enjoyed the 1930s very well mannered social rivals and the stories. Well read. Excellent.

MAPP versus Lucia

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I have seen the TV play of this title and loved it so much I just had to listen to it, so wonderfully read. This is such a perfect listen. I highly recommend.

Superb

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Would you listen to Mapp and Lucia again? Why?

E.F Benson's books are favourites. I will definitely listen to this again.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mapp and Lucia?

Shopping baskets on the Green; Susan's Royce and OBE; scheming by the two social lionesses of am English village, fighting for preeminence..

Have you listened to any of Miriam Margolyes’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Miriam Margolyes is a joy. I will listen to anything she reads. Her reading of this and of Dickens and Thackeray are pitch perfect. She lets the humour come from the characters and situation, I have downloaded all the EF Benson Mapp and Lucia books ready by MM>.

Any additional comments?

Well worth a listen, and abridgement is fine. My only question is why abridge it at all? It is all worth listening to.

Mannered and funny, wonderfully read

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I love these books but wish they hadn’t been abridged - and although Miriam Margolyes is great, I miss the wonderful Prunella Scales version. There seem to be so many great book recordings that have not been converted to MP3 digital form...

Great fun but why abridge a short book?

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Why was it necessary to abridge what is anyway a short novel? And why was it not made plain in the description at the point of purchase?
Margolise lacks the lightness of touch of Nadia May

Dissapointing

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