Pining for the West
Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson | October 16, 2009
Mapp And Lucia book covers
I saw Mapp and Lucia on T.V. and loved it, so I ended up getting the books and was given the DVD. To me everything is just perfect about it. I can’t imagine anyone other than Geraldine McEwan as the character of Lucia and Nigel Hawthorne is Georgie to a T. I think they must have had a whale of a time whilst filming it as Geraldine and Nigel ‘ham it up’ like mad.
Prunella Scales is wonderful as the sour and sarcastic Miss Mapp, (she seems to have cornered the market on those characteristics.) Mapp and Lucia are deadly rivals in a small village in England in 1930, each of them vying to be top dog in their community. This results in lots of comedic situations which amount to lovely ‘comfort viewing.’
The wardrobe department pulled out all the stops, especially with Lucia’s costumes, resulting in a feast for the eyes if you are into vintage clothes and accessories. Just sumptuous.
So when I came to reading the books I was really pleased to discover that they had been so well adapted and everything was as it should be.
Apparently E.F. Benson was the mayor of his town, I think it was Rye in Sussex. He must have based his characters on close observation of the locals,which probably made him popular with the majority of the population.
Anyway, if you feel in need of a laugh, some comfort reading or just want to drool over some beautiful handbags, hats, clothes and jewellery – then I recommend you should try these books and DVDs.
6 Comments »
Pining for the West 
Hi Never read Mapp and Lucia, sounds good, might give it a go. I vaguely remember it being on the telly, but I never watched it. I have got it to discover!
Comment by echostains — October 17, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
I think you would like it. Very twee and south of Englandish but funny and stylish vintage detail.
Comment by piningforthewest — October 18, 2009 @ 9:13 pm
Are you by any chance an Uppy Downy fan? (Upstairs Downstairs) I can’t get enough of them, absolutely brilliant! The books are good, if you can get hold of them. I got mine from ebay , lol!
Comment by echostains — October 18, 2009 @ 9:40 pm
Yes. I love Upstairs Downstairs too. I read the books back in the year dot but I don’t actually have them as I used to work in a library pre-kids.
Comment by piningforthewest — October 18, 2009 @ 9:46 pm
I read the Mapp and Lucia books for the first time last year when I read some chapters for a LibriVox recording, and it was great fun. I also got the dvds from our library and I agree, Prunella Scales is the definitive Mapp. Can’t believe that I missed out on these two for so long.
Comment by JaneGS — October 27, 2009 @ 2:34 pm
The dvds are great comfort viewing if you are feeling a bit under the weather. They always cheer me up. Lucia’s costumes are lovely.
Comment by piningforthewest — October 29, 2009 @ 11:14 pm