Make Way for Lucia

Same as above.

Its all here in one edition: Lucia, Mapp, Georgy... the whole crew. No need to keep track of six different books. In addition, included is the rarely published "The Male Impersonator". Warning: this is vintage stuff and is as additive as chocolate covered cherries on a rainy English afternoon. Once you've met Benson's Lucia, you will know, for sure, the one in your very own circle. This is the crowning glory of the very under-rated E.F. Benson.Like an English provincial "Finnegan's Wake", the minute you finish it all you really must go back and start all over again. Phooney on the Ab-Fab girls. Lucia reigns supreme and Benson is her prophet.

I have waited a very, very long time to review this complete set of E.F. Benson's "Lucia" novels, as I knew I would not be able to do justice to this masterpiece. The characters, whom you must meet for yourself, are the marvelously portrayed gentry of quiet, presumably peaceful hamlets just a short train ride away from London. There they attempt to scratch and claw their way to the top of the limited society in which they live. There is no violence or evil here, just hilarious fun as one tries to outdo the other in becoming the reigning monarch of the town's "royal family". Nobody, but nobody, does this better than Lucia. Whether she is stealing Daisy's Guru or attempting to take credit for introducing "spiritualism" to her subjects, she does it unashamedly and with aplomb! Whether she is reigning in Riseholme, unabashedly social climbing in London, or beseiging the Town of Tilling, she does it with a sense of purpose. Her life is a contest, one she refuses to lose. Winner take all, and woe to those who would oppose her! She is musical, she is magical, she is marvelous, she is LUCIA! I own several copies of this book, lest one is ever lost. I cannot imagine life without a copy nearby. There are some books from which the characters leap from the pages. This is one of those books, with a difference. This is a book into which you will want to leap! Make no mistake, once you have read "Lucia" you will be as much her prisoner as the citizenry of the towns in which she lives and rules. You will become a true "Luciaphile" and will search for others who are also so afflicted. Lucia's world is my safe haven; my escape from the mundane, the frightening and the stress of the world in which I live. It can become the same for you. This is a book you may well bequeath in your will as a cherished family heirloom. I told you I could not do it justice and I have not. Read "Lucia". You will thank E.F. Benson for his malicious, wicked, marvelous wit and the talent to share it through his novels for the rest of your life.

This book has a permanent home with me wherever I go because I return to it whenever I am at a loss for something to read. I have only to pick it up and I am quickly transported to the world of Tilling and all the hilarious escapades of its residents. I love these characters!

If you're a Luciaphile already, this is the ultimate "must-have." If you aren't, read the first few pages, and you'll be hooked, too. E. F. Benson's series of five novels and one short story, combined here in one delightful volume, is set pre-WWI and, variously, in the small English towns of Riseholme and Tilling, with a season in London thrown in for good measure. The heroine, Mrs. Emmeline Lucas, is nicknamed Lucia, which sums up her professed love for the Italian language and for classical music very nicely, and the fact that she is much less of an expert at either than she would have us believe makes for some of the enticing complications throughout. Lucia is the ultimate snob, the ultimate social climber, and she is so good at being Lucia that, soon after you begin reading, you'll join the throngs of her admirers as she rules each respective venue with an iron will, dictating the social lives of those fortunate enough to be among her circle. While capturing our admiration for his resourceful heroine, the author shows a fine sense of balance by making sure that, whenever social success goes to Lucia's head, she is provided with a setback -- sufficient both in making her more human, and in allowing her to rise even more splendidly to the next pinnacle of her achievements. My copy of this book is well-worn from reading and re-reading, and I recommend that each newly converted Luciaphile keep the tome close at hand, so that within moments you can escape to the settings so richly and colorfully described by Benson that you end up feeling you were in fact there