The Mapp & Lucia Collection: Volume 1

By: E. F. Benson

Narrated by: Geraldine McEwan, Prunella Scales, Patricia Gallimore

This collection features unabridged recordings of the first three novels in E.F. Benson’s beloved Mapp and Lucia series.

Queen Lucia: 1920s England, Emmeline Lucas – Lucia to her friends – reigns supreme as the social queen of the village of Riseholme. With her large-hearted husband Peppino, and her devoted companion Georgie by her side, her rule is a blissful one. But change is afoot: enter Olga Bracely, the famous opera prima-donna. Will this new celebrity topple the rightful sovereign?

Miss Mapp: In the coastal English village of Tilling, Miss Elizabeth Mapp sits like a watchful bird of prey at the bow window of her garden-room. For her main occupation is observing and guiding the local inhabitants. Between coaxing Major Benjamin Flint into marriage and stopping Isabel Poppit from stealing her recipe for iced red-currant fool, Miss Mapp certainly has her hands full. . .

Lucia in London: Lucia Lucas revels in her position of Queen of Riseholme. However, when her husband Peppino's cantankerous elderly Auntie Amy dies, the couple inherits her London house. Delighted at the prospect of a City second home, Lucia proceeds to establish a luxurious retreat there, and is soon ingratiating herself into London society. Will Lucia reign sovereign in both town and country?

Narrated by Geraldine McEwan and Prunella Scales Scales and Patricia Gallimore, this collection brings to life E.F. Benson’s comic tales of marriage, mishaps and mayhem.

Public Domain (P)2024 Isis Audio

disappointed in Geraldine McEwan's narration

I love Mapp and Lucia but this performance is kind of annoying. McEwan is excellent on the BBC series but just jarring as a narrator--kind of purring and squealing alternatrly, with odd pauses. Also there are weird edits in this version even though labeled unabridged. Georgina Sutton is so much better, and Nadia May did a few super well.