Life must be filled up

The Champagne Queen , Petra Durst-Benning. Out on 20th September.
E F Benson re-read:
Lucia in London
Mapp & Lucia
Lucia’s Progress
Trouble for Lucia
Autumn: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons, ed. Melissa Harrison. Just out.
The Dancing Floor, John Buchan
Trio , Sue Gee
St. Simon Square , Frances Hamilton
The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After, Jenny Colgan
She Shall have Music , Kitty Barne
The Lark in the Morn , Elfrida Vipont
The Lark on the Wing , Elfrida Vipont
Arsenic for Tea , Robin Stevens
Jolly Foul Play , Robin Stevens
Death in the Dentist’s Chair: A Golden Age Mystery, Molly Thynne. Out 5th September.
The Lake House, Kate Morton
( books )

‘Oh joy!’ Always an insincere cry from Mapp but a genuine one from me on receiving another Mapp and Lucia book by Guy Fraser-Sampson. We are now in post-war England but the inhabitants of Tilling seem to suffer little deprivation and are as keen as ever on bridge, gossip and shopping. And will there ever be an end to the rivalry between Mapp and Lucia? The only thing they agree on is their dislike of a Labour government. (I’m not sure about this; I see Lucia as a Vicar of Bray-type who is always on the winning side.) Wearing his other hat as a finance writer, the author explains in some detail how Lucia’s fortune has survived the Wall Street Crash and the war; she is in fact a profiteer. I could hardly understand a word of that but what matters is that luck and acumen have made Lucia ‘probably the richest woman in England’.

Ever ambitious and deluded, Lucia gets it into her head that a damehood would be suitable recognition for her many philanthropic deeds and puts out feelers. Perhaps Olga Bracely can help? She does, after all know everybody, unlike Lucia, who has hubristically let it be thought that she is a good friend of Noël Coward. Mapp is naturally out to prove this to be the lie it is, but, as so often, although right she is worsted. I laughed out loud at ‘Nobody had appreciated that in addition to all her other undoubted accomplishments, Lucia was a part-time gag writer for Noël Coward.’ Busy Lucia also organises a bridge tournament to bring fame to Tilling (and herself). Cue more teeth gnashing from Mapp, who in an attempt to outflank her, brings up the fabled Roman remains story again. Will she never learn? Mapp, Major Benjy, Diva, the Wyses, the Bartletts and quaint Irene leap off the page, all behaving and speaking entirely characteristically. This is Lucia's apotheosis and another sparkling triumph for Guy Fraser-Sampson.

I read this book courtesy of the publishers, Elliott and Thompson. It will be out on 27th March. I wish I could make it to the book launch at Daunt Books, if only to chide the author gently for bringing a tear to my eye at the end of the book, cattivo man. Not what we expect in Tilling, but very touching.

See also Major Benjy.

The Caroline and Sara books
Breton Holiday, later reissued as Breton Adventure
Bernese Adventure, previously published as Bernese Holiday
Highland Holiday, never reprinted after the early editions.

Clear?
It’s so long since I read these books that I’d forgotten what fun they are. If you wonder how I managed a picture with one hand, I didn’t; I already had it on file.

I’ve also read Queen Lucia and Miss Mapp by E F Benson. This is a time for old favourites only.

This is a meme from Stuck in a Book and here are the rules:

1.) Go to your bookshelves...
2.) Close your eyes. If you're feeling really committed, blindfold yourself.
3.) Select ten books at random. Use more than one bookcase, if you have them, or piles by the bed, or... basically, wherever you keep books.
4.) Use these books to tell us about yourself - where and when you got them, who got them for you, what the book says about you, etc. etc.....
5.) Have fun! Be imaginative. Doesn't matter if you've read them or not - be creative. It might not seem easy to start off with, and the links might be a little tenuous, but I think this is a fun way to do this sort of meme.
6.) Feel free to cheat a bit, if you need to...

Most of my books are in a shed in the garden and I have no desire to go out in the cold and snow for a rummage there. There’s quite a few book cases in the house, though, so I decided to have a go at this meme. Blindfold yourself? It’s like living inside a cloud here today; just leave the light off and it’s way too dark to see your books. Cheat a bit? Tempted, because I seemed to pick books without pretty covers, but I decided to stick with the challenge. What the book says about you? I don’t do that sort of meme. You just have to guess. ( ten books )