Queen Lucia

Last updated

Queen Lucia
Author E. F. Benson
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Comic novel
Publisher Hutchinson
Publication date
July 1920
Followed by Miss Mapp  

Queen Lucia is a 1920 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the first of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. This book introduces Emmeline Lucas, known as Lucia to her friends, the social queen of the fictional Elizabethan village of Riseholme, as well as her husband Philip ("Peppino") Lucas, her best friend Georgie Pillson and her friendly rival, Daisy Quantock. [1]

Contents

The book was a success for Benson, his greatest since writing Dodo in 1893. [2] Benson biographer Brian Masters writes, " The Athenaeum cleverly pointed out that Mr. Benson's humour had gone, not to the dogs, but to the cats." [3] Geoffrey Palmer and Lloyd Noel write, "With Queen Lucia, Fred [Benson] successfully entered into a new realm of social satire mixed with comedy and tinged with farce... With penetrating ruthlessness, he speared his characters' pretensions and held them up for ridicule, though he always tempered his attack with affectionate understanding." [4]

Plot

Emmeline Lucas is the social queen of Riseholme, presiding over her community and directing their interests in art and culture. A pretentious show-off, La Lucia drops random Italian phrases into her speech, gives concerts to her friends of the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata , dabbles in art, and plants Shakespeare-themed flower arrangements in her garden. Her neighbor, devoted faddist Daisy Quantock, has given up her uric-acid-free diet and Christian Science to focus on Indian mysticism, thanks to a mysterious guru who shows up at her door and offers to show her the Way. Lucia must decide how to annex the guru, and turn this into a social success for herself. Daisy then brings in a Russian medium, Princess Popoffski. Lucia has a harder time when opera diva Olga Bracely arrives in Riseholme for a visit, luring away Lucia's devoted friend Georgie Pillson.

Writing

Benson based the character of Lucia on his sometime-friend Marie Corelli, a best-selling novelist. Corelli pretended to speak Italian, talked baby-talk with men, held piano concerts, and upheld the values and reputation of Shakespeare. Masters writes, "Marie Corelli was a monster of pretension who would have ruled the lives and manners of Stratford people given half a chance, and Fred [Benson] pounced upon her every weakness with victorious glee, distilling them all into the awesome Lucia." [3]

Benson's 1916 book of short stories, The Freaks of Mayfair, informed his characters in Queen Lucia. "These include the effeminate bachelor, Aunt Georgie, who, with his music, embroidery, and hair dye, is clearly the ancestor of the much more sympathetically rendered Georgie Pillson, and Mrs. Weston, whose dabblings in yoga, Christian Science, spiritualism, and health food anticipate Daisy Quantock's obsession with fads." [2]

Reception

A contemporary review in The Bookman says, "This is decidedly one of the most amazing and clever stories that Mr. Benson has written. It is a kind of cleverness which is familiar in fiction as well as in social intercourse, an unfeeling smartness which is satirical and sarcastic. Modern society, especially in the case of idle rich people, must be a constant temptation to the clever novelist, and Mr. Benson has alreaady shot his arrows at the crazes of society women in particular. But in this novel he is genial and delightful. There is no acid touch of superiority." [5]

Another contemporary review in The Literary Digest says, "The book is lacking in what we are constantly told is necessary for a good novel. There is not much plot; there is no love interest; there is no climax — the book just stops (much to our regret) after chronicling one more Riseholme failure in the line of spirit manifestation. But it is long since once has seen such a masterly bit of satire, such a piece of character-study as Lucia." [6]

Robert Kiernan writes that the Lucia novels "constitute a high point of camp... Queen Lucia is a comedy of village manners, with a line clearly drawn between insiders and outsiders. References to Bolshevism and revolutionary outrages may seem to suggest that Riseholme is something more than a village — a microcosm, even, of beleaguered monarchies the world over — but one is never permitted to take that seriously that analogy. Indeed, Riseholme is a stage set, not a sociopolitical entity." [1]

Sequels

Benson wrote another book about a socially-striving heroine, Miss Mapp , in 1922. His second Lucia novel, Lucia in London , was published in 1927. He combined the two characters in Mapp and Lucia (1931), as Lucia and Georgie leave Riseholme to take up lodgings in Mapp's fictional seaside town, Tilling. She remains there for another two books, Lucia's Progress (1935, published in the US as The Worshipful Lucia), and Trouble for Lucia (1939). [1]

Adaptations

The Mapp and Lucia series has been adapted for television twice, in a 1985 series originally aired on Channel 4, and a 2014 series on BBC One. While both adaptations begin with Lucia visiting Tilling (the beginning of the fourth book), the 2014 series adapted the Indian guru sequence from Queen Lucia, transposing the guru's host from Daisy Quantock to Diva Plaistow.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. F. Benson</span> English novelist and writer (1867–1940)

Edward Frederic Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Corelli</span> English novelist (1855–1924)

Mary Mackay, also called Minnie Mackey and known by her pseudonym Marie Corelli, was an English novelist.

Philippa Jane Haywood is an English actress. She won the 2005 Rose d'Or Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for Green Wing (2004–2006). Her other television credits include The Brittas Empire (1991–1997), Chimera (1991) Prisoners' Wives (2012–2013) and Scott & Bailey (2012–2016). In 2018, she played the role of Lorraine Craddock in the BBC television series Bodyguard. In 2019 she appeared in series 4 of the BBC Radio 4 Show The Pin.

Mapp and Lucia is a collective name for a series of novels by E. F. Benson and also the name of two British television adaptations based on those novels.

<i>The Blue Lagoon</i> (novel) 1908 coming-of-age novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole

The Blue Lagoon is a coming-of-age romance novel written by Henry De Vere Stacpoole, first published by T. Fisher Unwin in 1908. The Blue Lagoon explores themes of love, childhood innocence, and the conflict between civilisation and the natural world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Pemberton</span> British actor and comedian (born 1967)

Steven James Pemberton is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He was a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the black comedy Psychoville and the anthology series Inside No. 9. His other notable television credits include Doctor Who, Benidorm, Blackpool, Shameless, Whitechapel, Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tilling (Sussex)</span>

Tilling is a fictional coastal town, based on Rye, East Sussex, in the Mapp and Lucia novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940).

Riseholme is a fictional Elizabethan village in the Cotswolds in the "Lucia" novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940). It is thought to have been based on Broadway, Worcestershire.

Emmeline is a female given name. The medieval name, a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element amal meaning "work". It was introduced to England by the Normans.

Lucinda Gane was a British actress, known for her role as the absent-minded science teacher Miss Terri Mooney in the children's television serial Grange Hill, a role she played from 1980 to 1983. In 1985–1986 she played Georgie Pillson's trusty housemaid Foljambe in two series of Mapp and Lucia, adapted by London Weekend Television from the novels of E. F. Benson. She also appeared in Thomas and Sarah, a spin-off from Upstairs, Downstairs, playing Emily Rudge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Benson (hostess)</span> English wife of Archbishop Edward Benson (1841–1918)

Mary Benson was an English hostess of the Victorian era. She was the wife of Edward Benson, who during their marriage became Archbishop of Canterbury. Their children included several prolific authors and contributors to cultural life. During her marriage, she was involved with Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. She was described by William Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the 'cleverest woman in Europe'.

<i>Mapp and Lucia</i> (2014 TV series) British TV series or programme

Mapp and Lucia is a British drama television series that was first broadcast on BBC One from 29 to 31 December 2014. The three-part series, adapted by Steve Pemberton and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, is based on E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia collection of novels. The series features an ensemble cast, with Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor playing the eponymous characters Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas. It is set in the Sussex coastal town of Tilling, based very closely on Rye, East Sussex, where it was filmed and where Benson lived. Although attracting modest viewing figures, the series received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Mapp & Lucia</i> (1985 TV series) British television series

Mapp and Lucia is a British television series, set in the fictional Sussex coastal town of Tilling and based on three 1930s novels by E. F. Benson, beginning with Mapp and Lucia. It was produced by London Weekend Television, filmed in Rye and neighbouring Winchelsea in the 1980s, and starred Prunella Scales as Mapp, Geraldine McEwan as Lucia, Nigel Hawthorne as Georgie, and Denis Lill as Major Benjy. The script was by Gerald Savory. There were ten episodes, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1985 and 1986. The opening title painting was painted by the artist Reg Cartwright. These have been repeated over the years, and a new BBC adaptation, Mapp and Lucia, aired in 2014.

Miss Mapp is a 1922 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the second of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. This book introduces Miss Mapp, the social tyrant of the fictional coastal town of Tilling, and the cast of Tillingites, including Diva Plaistow, Major Benji Flint, Mr. and Mrs. Wyse, and Quaint Irene. Tilling was inspired by the town of Rye, where Benson lived at Lamb House, with his own commanding view of the High Street inspiring Mapp's domain, Mallards.

Lucia in London is a 1927 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the third of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. The second Lucia novel, it is a sequel to 1920's Queen Lucia. In this novel, Lucia leaves her small town of Riseholme and moves to London, where she attacks the city's social life with the same eager ferocity.

<i>Mapp and Lucia</i> 1931 novel by E. F. Benson

Mapp and Lucia is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It brings together two sets of characters from three previous Benson novels: Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas, Georgie Pillson and Daisy Quantock from Queen Lucia (1920) and Lucia in London (1927), and Miss Elizabeth Mapp and her neighbours from Miss Mapp (1922).

<i>The Blotting Book</i> 1908 novel

The Blotting Book is a 1908 mystery crime novel by the British writer E.F. Benson, later better known as the author of the Mapp and Lucia series. It was one of only two ventures he made into the genre during his prolific career along with The Luck of the Vails (1901). It takes place in Brighton and the nearby South Downs.

<i>Secret Lives</i> (novel) 1932 novel

Secret Lives is a 1932 comedy novel by the British writer E. F. Benson, best known as the author of the Mapp and Lucia series. The structure is broadly similar to that series, featuring two strong-willed women battling for social supremacy in the fictitious Durham Square in Edwardian London.

Lucia's Progress is a 1935 comic novel written by E.F. Benson. It is the fifth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It continues the story from the 1931 novel Mapp and Lucia, which brought Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas and Georgie Pillson from Queen Lucia (1920) and Lucia in London (1927) together with Miss Elizabeth Mapp and her neighbours from Miss Mapp (1922).

Trouble for Lucia is a 1939 comic novel written by E.F. Benson. It is the sixth and final novel in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kiernan, Robert F. (1990). Frivolity Unbound: Six Masters of the Camp Novel. Continuum Publishing. pp. 67–69. ISBN   978-0826404657 . Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 Thesing, William B. (1993). British short-fiction writers, 1880-1914: The Realist Tradition. Gale Research. pp. 32–33. ISBN   978-0810353947 . Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 Masters, Brian (1991). The Life of E.F. Benson. Chatto & Windus. pp. 237–240. ISBN   978-0701135669 . Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Palmer, Geoffrey; Lloyd, Noel (1988). E.F. Benson, As He Was. Lennard Publishing. p. 124. ISBN   978-1852910600 . Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. ↑ Moffatt, James (September 1920). "New Books: Queen Lucia". The Bookman : 207. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "A Fearful Spectacle". The Literary Digest . LXVI (12): 102. 18 September 1920. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.