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pixie_d's review against another edition
3.0
Having read that Gorey biography (he was a huge fan), I discovered this series. I don't think I'm going to be a fanatic about the books, but it was for the most part a fun read.
frankiebow's review against another edition
5.0
Just re-read E.F. Benson's Queen Lucia; brilliant story of human nature in all its pettiness.
pshipper's review against another edition
3.0
A delight. Catty, camp, and sweet. The characters pure caricature and yet remain engaging and even relatable. I’m looking forward to more in the series.
oldenglishrose's review against another edition
3.0
Queen Lucia introduces the village of Riseholme, its inhabitants and, most importantly, Lucia Lucas who presides over Riseholme’s social scene as benevolent dictator. In this first installment in the series, Lucia’s unspoken sovreignty comes under threat from an Indian guru, a Russian medium and a celebrated opera singer and we see how she deals with these attempts, whether intentional or not, to go against the status quo.
The appeal of Queen Lucia is explained rather well by Olga Bracely: ‘Oh, it’s all so delicious!’ she said. ‘I never knew before how terribly interesting little thingswere. It’s all wildly exciting, and there are fifty things going on just as exciting. Is it all of you who take such a tremendous interest in them that makes them so absorbing, or is it that they are absorbing in themselves and ordinary dull people, not Riseholmites, don’t see how exciting they are? (pp. 258-259) It is a novel about little things that happen and are only made interesting by the way in which the entertaining cast of characters treat them.
Lucia reminded me of no one so much as Mrs Elton from Jane Austen’s Emma: she is shallow, snobbish, pretentious and completely convinced of her own importance. In other words, she should be a rather unpleasant character but is absolutely delicious to read about as she lords it over her friends. The only facet of her character which I didn’t particularly enjoy was her fondness for baby talk with the men in her life; self-importance and snobbery, while irritating traits in real life, can be made great fun to read about, but adults trying to sound like infants is something that I will always find annoying.
Riseholme’s other inhabitants are equally as obsessed with social climbing, though in different ways. I enjoyed Daisy’s futile attempts to usurp Lucia’s prominence by launching the latest trend before Lucia can pick up on it and annex Daisy’s latest discovery, something which always ends in disaster. Georgie’s delight at having a secret from Lucia which gives him some sort of power over her is amusing and infectious as the reader spends more time with him than with Lucia. Although Benson’s writing is sharp and biting, it was without any particular malice. I felt that, although he mocks these silly social situations he also loves them and thrives on them, and that he would be behaving exactly the same as the other villagers if he were to live in Riseholme and would love every minute of it. He certainly has great fun writing about them.
To continue the Jane Austen comparison, there were times when this book felt like it needed a Mr Knightley. It has the intrigue of people being manoeuvred into relationships, the fast-fading fashions for particular activities and the carefully considered, smiling social warfare between the characters, but I would have liked to see someone with sense and morality who wasn’t taken in by all of this nonsense to provide some much needed contrast. While I know it’s a light, humorous novel and I enjoyed it for what it is, it felt a bit relentlessly shallow and breezy at times and I would have preferred an occasional change of tone. Hermy and Ursy, Georgie’s irrepressibly robust sisters, would have done this perfectly but they remained fairly marginal characters in this first book. I hope to see more of them in future volumes as I would love to see someone practical tell Riseholme to stop being so ridiculous. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable ridiculousness and I look forward to continuing the series.
The appeal of Queen Lucia is explained rather well by Olga Bracely: ‘Oh, it’s all so delicious!’ she said. ‘I never knew before how terribly interesting little thingswere. It’s all wildly exciting, and there are fifty things going on just as exciting. Is it all of you who take such a tremendous interest in them that makes them so absorbing, or is it that they are absorbing in themselves and ordinary dull people, not Riseholmites, don’t see how exciting they are? (pp. 258-259) It is a novel about little things that happen and are only made interesting by the way in which the entertaining cast of characters treat them.
Lucia reminded me of no one so much as Mrs Elton from Jane Austen’s Emma: she is shallow, snobbish, pretentious and completely convinced of her own importance. In other words, she should be a rather unpleasant character but is absolutely delicious to read about as she lords it over her friends. The only facet of her character which I didn’t particularly enjoy was her fondness for baby talk with the men in her life; self-importance and snobbery, while irritating traits in real life, can be made great fun to read about, but adults trying to sound like infants is something that I will always find annoying.
Riseholme’s other inhabitants are equally as obsessed with social climbing, though in different ways. I enjoyed Daisy’s futile attempts to usurp Lucia’s prominence by launching the latest trend before Lucia can pick up on it and annex Daisy’s latest discovery, something which always ends in disaster. Georgie’s delight at having a secret from Lucia which gives him some sort of power over her is amusing and infectious as the reader spends more time with him than with Lucia. Although Benson’s writing is sharp and biting, it was without any particular malice. I felt that, although he mocks these silly social situations he also loves them and thrives on them, and that he would be behaving exactly the same as the other villagers if he were to live in Riseholme and would love every minute of it. He certainly has great fun writing about them.
To continue the Jane Austen comparison, there were times when this book felt like it needed a Mr Knightley. It has the intrigue of people being manoeuvred into relationships, the fast-fading fashions for particular activities and the carefully considered, smiling social warfare between the characters, but I would have liked to see someone with sense and morality who wasn’t taken in by all of this nonsense to provide some much needed contrast. While I know it’s a light, humorous novel and I enjoyed it for what it is, it felt a bit relentlessly shallow and breezy at times and I would have preferred an occasional change of tone. Hermy and Ursy, Georgie’s irrepressibly robust sisters, would have done this perfectly but they remained fairly marginal characters in this first book. I hope to see more of them in future volumes as I would love to see someone practical tell Riseholme to stop being so ridiculous. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable ridiculousness and I look forward to continuing the series.
magratajostiernos's review against another edition
3.0
Aunque tiene momentos geniales, también se me ha hecho a ratos algo tediosa... :S
jenmcmaynes's review against another edition
2.0
I think this is the only audiobook I’ve listened to where the audio detracted from my enjoyment of the book. The reader did a perfectly fine job, but listening to her give voice to Lucia’s bad Italian, baby talk, and general snobbishness was excruciating - she did it too well! I ended up really disliking Lucia; I think if I had merely read her quirks I would have been more tolerant. Audio issues aside, this rather scathing comedy set in a small English village in the early 20th century focuses on Lucia, the self-appointed leader of the cultural life of the village. Her place as “queen” is disrupted when an opera singer moves to the village and the limelight shifts to the newcomer. There are also adventures in guru-ism, seances with a Russian princess, and village gossip and scandal. There were many funny moments, but the overall impression I was left with was that this was a bit of a takedown of both a type of person and type of life; it felt mean spirited.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
Midland, evening, December 14th
I think it's funny my mom and I both love to read so much and have joined book clubs together because we do not like the same books ~ unless they are by Stephen King :)
I actually enjoyed this book. It was maybe a little too girlie and a little too much an older style "people" magazine...following the life of these people. But, I didn't hate it. I felt some of Georgie's unease as he knew things were coming and only going to get worse. I hated how I felt Georgie was used and ~ mildly ~ abandoned. But, I know he wished that on himself.
I won't read more of the series (not my genre), but all in all, I didn't mind reading the book.
I think it's funny my mom and I both love to read so much and have joined book clubs together because we do not like the same books ~ unless they are by Stephen King :)
I actually enjoyed this book. It was maybe a little too girlie and a little too much an older style "people" magazine...following the life of these people. But, I didn't hate it. I felt some of Georgie's unease as he knew things were coming and only going to get worse. I hated how I felt Georgie was used and ~ mildly ~ abandoned. But, I know he wished that on himself.
I won't read more of the series (not my genre), but all in all, I didn't mind reading the book.
silvej01's review against another edition
3.0
”Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
In the little English village of Riseholme, Emmeline Lukas—Lucia—is the reigning queen. Most of her waking life is spent either in preparation of or actually exercising her regal authority over the rest of the inhabitants of Riseholme. She makes sure it is on display and remains alert to suspected snubs or potential threats to her command over her realm. Interactions with others—be they friend, rival, a real or supposed enemy, or sometimes many of these at once—are handled with hauteur and delicate pomposity. She doesn’t hesitate to overtake the seemingly exciting discoveries of her friends and make them out to be her own, nor hesitate to quickly reverse the process should the discovery turn out to be a dud that might mar the appearance of her grand vision, wisdom, and high artistic sensibility.
This book is much better written than the amount of enjoyment I had reading it. (Actually, I listened to Nadia May’s excellent audiobook version.) That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it—I did. Benson was clearly a very fine writer but I felt I wasn’t always up to doing him the justice he deserved. Certainly there were many parts that gave me a great deal of pleasure. The book is full of humor and Benson’s knowing wit abounds. There are many wonderful and biting lines that occasionally led me to laugh out loud. Still, the schemes and machinations of Lucia and “her subjects” and rivals, were at times wearisome for me. While some acts of genuine kindness and authenticity do eventually take place, for most of the book I found myself longing for at least some such instances. Also, there are dated and somewhat offensive invocations of British Imperial prejudices and stereotypes that require a forbearance that some might not be willing to allow.
All this is not to say that I would clearly not go on to read other books in the Mapp & Lucia series (if only to find out who Mapp is—he/she is not named a character in this first book), but not right away.
In the little English village of Riseholme, Emmeline Lukas—Lucia—is the reigning queen. Most of her waking life is spent either in preparation of or actually exercising her regal authority over the rest of the inhabitants of Riseholme. She makes sure it is on display and remains alert to suspected snubs or potential threats to her command over her realm. Interactions with others—be they friend, rival, a real or supposed enemy, or sometimes many of these at once—are handled with hauteur and delicate pomposity. She doesn’t hesitate to overtake the seemingly exciting discoveries of her friends and make them out to be her own, nor hesitate to quickly reverse the process should the discovery turn out to be a dud that might mar the appearance of her grand vision, wisdom, and high artistic sensibility.
This book is much better written than the amount of enjoyment I had reading it. (Actually, I listened to Nadia May’s excellent audiobook version.) That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it—I did. Benson was clearly a very fine writer but I felt I wasn’t always up to doing him the justice he deserved. Certainly there were many parts that gave me a great deal of pleasure. The book is full of humor and Benson’s knowing wit abounds. There are many wonderful and biting lines that occasionally led me to laugh out loud. Still, the schemes and machinations of Lucia and “her subjects” and rivals, were at times wearisome for me. While some acts of genuine kindness and authenticity do eventually take place, for most of the book I found myself longing for at least some such instances. Also, there are dated and somewhat offensive invocations of British Imperial prejudices and stereotypes that require a forbearance that some might not be willing to allow.
All this is not to say that I would clearly not go on to read other books in the Mapp & Lucia series (if only to find out who Mapp is—he/she is not named a character in this first book), but not right away.
hatseflats's review against another edition
4.0
A very entertaining comedic novel, the first in a long series, concerning English manners and the extreme pretentiousness of the English middle-class as written by a man who was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
fairywren's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0