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A review by thebookboy
Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson
5.0
A wickedly funny and observant piece of comedy.
I read the six Mapp and Lucia novels a few years ago and decided to reviswit them again this year fuelled by obly fond memories of them. To my delight my memory has reamined truthful, and Queen Lucia is such a silly, enjoyable and genuinely very compelling slice of English humour.
The success of this piece is Lucia herself - a petty, sneaky, tactful snob who rules over the little village in pure silvery-laughed tyranny. Yet despite how utterly awful she is (and if I ever met a person like her in real life I think I'd find them utterly detestable) to read her in writing is somehow charming, and you can't help but enjoy watching her navigate any challeges to her reign.
The characters are fun, the humour is constant and there's a delicious Englishness about all of this which is why these novels have become such enduring classics. Simply brilliant.
I read the six Mapp and Lucia novels a few years ago and decided to reviswit them again this year fuelled by obly fond memories of them. To my delight my memory has reamined truthful, and Queen Lucia is such a silly, enjoyable and genuinely very compelling slice of English humour.
The success of this piece is Lucia herself - a petty, sneaky, tactful snob who rules over the little village in pure silvery-laughed tyranny. Yet despite how utterly awful she is (and if I ever met a person like her in real life I think I'd find them utterly detestable) to read her in writing is somehow charming, and you can't help but enjoy watching her navigate any challeges to her reign.
The characters are fun, the humour is constant and there's a delicious Englishness about all of this which is why these novels have become such enduring classics. Simply brilliant.