Book Description
The international literary sensation-a runaway bestseller in Spain, rights sold in more than 20 countries-about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.
Barcelona, 1945-just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel's father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax's work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn't find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.
As with all astounding novels, The Shadow of the Wind sends the mind groping for comparisons-The Crimson Petal and the White? The novels of Arturo Pérez-Reverte? Of Victor Hugo? Love in the Time of Cholera?-but in the end, as with all astounding novels, no comparison can suffice. As one leading Spanish reviewer wrote, "The originality of Ruiz Zafón's voice is bombproof and displays a diabolical talent. The Shadow of the Wind announces a phenomenon in Spanish literature." An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller's art.
Translated by Lucia Graves.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging story, told well.......2007-10-10
I wasn't looking for deep thoughts, but for entertainment. This book delivers, an engaging tale spiced with hidden family histories, dark secrets, and a tragic hero. It finishes on an overly melodramatic note, building up to more of a climax and confrontation than was necessary. I'd deduct half a star, but not a whole one.
Shamelessly indulgent........2007-10-07
My sister strongly recommended this book when I was visiting her this year. So I picked it up when I saw it being sold at train stations and airports all over Europe.
First, I have to say that this was a nearly compulsively pleasant read. The literary equivalent of a hot bath and a glass of red wine. The Shadow of the Wind is a coming of age story with mildly supernatural/mysterious overtones with a strong theme of books and book lovers. In order to ensure that his readers are completely blissed out, Zafon includes romance, gothic family histories and political corruption. There is even a mysterious stranger with a hidden face who may or may not be the devil. Think Anne Rice in some of her better moments, and you'll get the idea.
The Shadow of the Wind is a reader's guilty pleasure. It harks pleasantly back to another time. It is evocative. It keeps the pages turning.
Sadly, it does not deliver on its promise. That is almost inevitable, given how many doors it opens and how many different themes Zafon tries to keep in the air. There are a few too many implausible ways that the loose ends are tied up in the last third of the book. The resolution is not really as satisfying as I had hoped. The flaws keep The Shadow of the Wind from being a really high quality novel, even though they do not really detract from the entertainment value.
In a way, the failure of the end is caused by the magnificent success of the beginning. The first half of the novel was always going to be a hard act to follow. Still, I would more than recommend it for readers willing to take it for what it is-- great entertainment value.
A good, moving story.......2007-10-03
The protagonist, Daniel Sempere is the son of a bookstore-keeper. At the age of 10, he finds a rare book by one Julian Carax in the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books". After finishing it, he finds out that there's someone who is trying to destroy all existing copies of Carax's books. This is how begins a complex plot that lasts about 10 years, and involves lots of mysteries and original characters.
"Original" is a good summary of this book. On one hand a typical thriller, but on the other hand not quite. There is something special about this book, about the way it is written. It's not a deliberate page-turner like many modern fiction novels aspire to be, although it could be, since it's obvious from the start that the author has the skill to make it so. Instead, its plot unfolds in a more relaxed tempo, spanning over a longer period of time.
There are many exciting characters in this book - like Fermin. This guy made me laugh quite a lot, he's a hysterically funny guy. Inspector Fumero is also a very unusual and interesting character, in his own wicked way. Another character is probably the city of Barcelona, where all the plot takes place and that's described beautifully.
I like books about books, so "The Shadow of the Wind" was a delight in this aspect. Additionally, I felt there's a certain closed loop in it - the enigmatic resemblance of Carax's and Sempere's lives. The difference is that Carax's life turned extremely tragically, while Sempere's ended well. There's a strange kind of emotionality hidden in this concept, and I found it very moving.
To conclude, this is a very good book. I can't say it's perfect - the author seems a bit inexperienced and there are some omissions and inconsistencies. However, in the whole, I loved reading it and hence recommend it.
A real page-turner.......2007-09-30
This book is CRAZY! It has absolutely everything: love, murder, betrayal, incest, and more! "The Shadow of the Wind" is set in post-war Barcelona in the year 1945. Daniel, a young boy, accompanies his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books one evening and finds a book written by Julian Carax. After reading the book, Daniel is so engrossed that he attempts to locate other books by the same author, but cannot find any. However, he does discover stories about a mysterious man named Lain Coubert, which is the same name Carax uses for the character of the devil in one of his novels. Lain Coubert has spent years tracking down copes of Carax's books and setting fire to them. In time, Daniel comes face to face with Lain Coubert, and Daniel soon finds himself immersed in a story that began many years ago and may very well threaten his own life.
This is a truly excellent book that has the makings of a great gothic novel. It took me a long time to finish reading it because there are so many characters and plot twists to keep track of, but the intriguing story was well worth the effort I put into it. I couldn't put this book down. I highly recommend it.
For Every BOOK Lover..........2007-09-26
Whenever I read a book I underline key phrases or words that impact me in some way or another. During my recent flight from NYC to Los Angeles I finished a fabulous epic novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. In July, I was vacationing on the Carribean Island of Anguilla and I came across the book inside a basket in the living area of the Cove Castles restort. I started thumbing through the pages and thought it might be something I'd like to read. I was attracted by the fact that it was an epic Gothic-type novel that had spent two years on SPAIN's best-seller list. In the early pages a critic wrote that like A.S. Byatt's POSSESSION it is an ultimate love letter to literature. I found that to be true. The more lines I underline will determine the goodness of the book (for me). And so, I now share with you to decide.
Here are the fabulous LINES in the book that captured me:
"Some things can only be seen in the shadows."
Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart.
A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept.
...frilly words.
Nations never see themselves clearly in the mirror, much less when war preys on their minds.
I bought the book on a whim. The title seemed suggestive.
That book taught me that by reading, I could live more intensely.
I wondered what on earth she saw in me that could make her want to befriend me, other than a pale reflection of herself, an echo of solitude and loss.
To truly hate is an art one learns with time.
His favorite language was money, the rest was neither here nor there.
"Age--the price we all must pay."
People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't complicated enough.
"Presents are made for the pleasure of who gives them, not for the merits of who receives them."
If you ever have a daughter--a blessing I wouldn't wish on anywone, because it's Murphy's Law that sooner or later she will break your heart--if you ever have a daughter, you'll begin without realizing it, to divide men into to camps: those you suspect are sleeping with her and those you don't.
"Nobody knows much about women, not even Freud, not even women themselves. But it's like electricity: you don't have to know how it works to get a shock on the fingers."
Cinemas are full of lonely people, I thought. Like me.
Disamred, I realized how easily you can lose all animosity toward someone you've deemed your enemy as soon as that person stops behaving as such.
I slipped on my trademark angelic smile.
I can assure you without a shadow of doubt that the girl was no apparition. I could even describe her smell. Lavender, only sweeter. Like a little sugar bun just out of the oven.
Real women are won over bit by bit. It's all a question of psychology.
The female heats up like an iron. Slowly, over a low heat, like a tasty stew. But then, once she has heated up, there's no stopping her.
If you really want to possess a woman (or man), you must think like her (or him), and the first thing to do is win over her (his) soul. The rest...is a bonus.
If you want problems, you'll get them. Life isn't like novels, you know. In Life you have to take sides.
To go in pursuit of your dreams...
All I wish is for you to be happy...that everything you aspire to achieve may come true.
At the bottom of the cupboard, I kept an old tin cookie box, a treasure chest of sorts. There I stored a menagerie of useless bits of junk that I couldn't bring myself to throw away: watches, and fountain pens damaged beyond repair, old coins, marbles, wartime bullet cases I'd found in the park, and fading postcards.
...hit songs by the celebrated crooner Antonio Machin.
The leopard cannot change his spots.
If a fly finds its way into his shop, he'll open the door and windows wide so that the insect, one of God's creatures, is swept back by the draft into the ecosystem.
The trouble is, there are some low moments, and when those strike close to home everything looks blacker.
The only card I could play was to tell the truth.
He would stare at you without saying a word, and you wouldn't know what he was thinking, and so, like an idiot, you'd tell him things it would have been better to keep to yourself.
He gave the impression that he was one of those people who cannot be happy anywhere.
He was a very private person, and sometimes it seemed to me that he was no longer interested in the world or in people.
He was living in the past, lockied in his memories. He lived within himself, for his books and inside them--a comfortable prison of his own design.
Time is a great healer.
His soul is in his stories.
"We exist as long as somebody remembers us."
"Someone once said that the moment you stop to think about whether you love someone, you've already stopped loving that person forever."
"Don't be offended, but sometimes one feels freer speaking to a stranger that to people one knows. Why is that?"
I shrugged, "Probably because a stranger sees us the way we are, not as he wishes to think we are."
"And how do you see me?"
"Like a mystery."
At last I managed to retrace my steps within the tangle of corridors and tunnels until I entered a narrow passage that felt like a gangway stretching out into the gloom.
"You can see a mile off that she's worth a million bucks, but the crux of the matter is this:
is she the sort who makes one fall in love or the sort who merely stirs up the lower parts?"
In good time you'll see that sometimes what matters isn't what one gives but what one gives up.
Only three or four things are worth living for; the rest is manure.
Love is a lot like pork: there's loin steak and there's bologna. Each has its own place and function.
Money is like any other virus: once it has rotted the soul of the person who houses it, it sets off in search of new blood. In this world a surname is less lasting than a sugared almond.
Like old cities, Barcelona is a sum of its ruins. The great glories so many people are proud of--palaces, factories, monuments, the emblems with which we identify--are nothing more than relics of an extinguished civilization.
Greed will corrupt us all in the end.
Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.
Few things are more deceptive than memories.
"The fragrances of the eternal feminine no longer overpowers me the way it mesmerizes you. At my age the flow of blood to the brain has precedence over that which flows to my loins."
"People who have no life always have to stick thier nose in the life of others."
"Life flies by, especially the bit that's worth living."
I imagined she was thinking that I was dying of curiosity and impatience, so I decided to adopt a nonchalant air, making it very clear that if she wanted to play mystery games with me, she had every chance of losing.
"I believe that nothing happens by chance. Deep down, things have their secret plan, even thought we don't understand it....It's all part of someting we cannot comprehend, something that owns us."
"And keep your dreams," said Miguel, "You never know when you might need them."
Some of us suffer from an excess of juvenile ardor and a lack of strategic grasp of the situation.
Death makes evryone feel sentimental. When we stand in front of a coffin, we all see only what is good or what we want to see.
When everyone is determined to present someone as a monster, there are two possibilities: either he's a saint or they themselves are not telling the whole story.
Never trust he who trusts everyone.
When you're eighteen, in the absence of subtlety and greater experience, an old bathroom can seem like paradise.
Have you ever covered a woman (or man) with oil, from head to toe, completely and meticulously?
Contrary to what you firmly believe, the earth does not revolve around the desires of your crotch. Other factors influence the evolution of mankind.
It is one thing to believe in women, and another to believe in what they say.
There are people you remember and people you dream of.
There was another silence, of the kind in which gray hairs seem to creep up on you.
I tried to conjure up the words I wanted to offer...but I was incapable of writing or feeling.
"We all do what we're best at."
"...what is really killing him is loneliness. Memories are worse than bullets."
Time goes faster the more hallow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don't stop at your station.
A story is a letter the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise.
He was learning to see the world again through your eyes, to recover the boy he had once been.
So long as we are being remembered, we remain alive.
He's not a bad person. We all love in our own way.
We're all whores sooner or later.
All that remains in my memory is the touch of her lips...
I often catch her marooned in one of her silences, alone with herself.
She still sees her old music teacher whose symphony is still unfinished and who, it seems, has made a career as a gigolo among the ladies, where his bedroom acrobatics have earned him the nickname "The Magic Flute".
Father and son disappear into the crowd, their steps lost forever in the shadow of the wind.
Book Description
It is 1950 in glittering, vibrant New York City. Lucia Sartori is the beautiful twenty-five-year-old daughter of a prosperous Italian grocer in Greenwich Village. The postwar boom is ripe with opportunities for talented girls with ambition, and Lucia becomes an apprentice to an up-and-coming designer at chic B. Altman’s department store on Fifth Avenue. Engaged to her childhood sweetheart, the steadfast Dante DeMartino, Lucia is torn when she meets a handsome stranger who promises a life of uptown luxury that career girls like her only read about in the society pages. Forced to choose between duty to her family and her own dreams, Lucia finds herself in the midst of a sizzling scandal in which secrets are revealed, her beloved career is jeopardized, and the Sartoris’ honor is tested.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Download Description
Set in the glittering, vibrant New York City of 1950, Lucia, Lucia is the enthralling story of a passionate, determined young woman whose decision to follow her heart changes her life forever.
Lucia Sartori is the beautiful twenty-five-year-old daughter of a prosperous Italian grocer in Greenwich Village. The postwar boom is ripe with opportunities for talented girls with ambition, and Lucia becomes an apprentice to an up-and-coming designer at chic B. Altman's department store on Fifth Avenue. Engaged to her childhood sweetheart, the steadfast Dante DeMartino, Lucia is torn when she meets a handsome stranger who promises a life of uptown luxury that career girls like her only read about in the society pages. Forced to choose between duty to her family and her own dreams, Lucia finds herself in the midst of a sizzling scandal in which secrets are revealed, her beloved career is jeopardized, and the Sartoris' honor is tested.
Lucia is surrounded by richly drawn New York characters, including her best friend, the quick-witted fashion protégé Ruth Kaspian; their boss, Delmarr, B. Altman's head designer and glamorous man-about-town; her devoted brothers, Roberto, Orlando, Angelo, and Exodus, self-appointed protectors of the jewel of the family; and her doting father, Antonio. Filled with the warmth and humor that have earned Adriana Trigiani hundreds of thousands of devoted readers with her Big Stone Gap trilogy, Lucia, Lucia also bursts with a New York sensibility that shows the depth and range of this beloved author. As richly detailed as the couture garments Lucia sews, as emotional as the bonds in her big Italian family, it is the story of one woman who believes that in a world brimming with so much promise, she can—and should be able to—have it all.
"Trigiani is a wonderful storyteller."
USA TODAY
"[Trigiani's] characters [are] the perfect antidote to an angst-filled world."
THE DENVER POST
"As comforting as a mug of chamomile tea on a rainy Sunday."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"Everything that really matters is here: humor, romance, wisdom, and drama."
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"Delightfully quirky... chock-full of engaging, oddball characters and unexpected plot twists."
PEOPLE
Customer Reviews:
GOOD READ.......2007-06-01
I BOUHT THIS FOR MY STEPMOTHER AND AUNT. THEY REALLY ENJOY HER BOOKS
Loved it!!.......2007-04-04
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. She's a little gullible, but I appreciated her just the same!
One of my favorites by the author.......2007-02-07
Oh, so pretty. Begins in present day New York City in an apartment building where a playwright takes tea with an older lady who's always lived in the building. The older lady begins telling her life story, which takes place in NYC during the 1950s wherein the main character is 25 years old and works for B. Altmans in their custom department, making and fitting clothes. The descriptions of the fabrics are so rich and sumptuous - even the most fashion unadept, like myself, can picture them and swoon over them. The book goes through her life, circling back to present day. It's heartbreaking but in the best kind of way.
Love this!.......2007-02-02
I don't generally read in this genre, but this book wrapped itself around my heart. The characters came to life for me, and I laughed and cried along with Lucia. I wish the author would do a sequel. Love it!!
Good read, or more accurately, good listen!.......2007-01-25
This is a good, pleasant book about family ties, romance, friendship and life in the 50s. I know of at least two versions of the Audio Book: one by Random House Audio (read by Mira Sorvino), and one by Books on Tape (read by Cassandra Campbell). Definitely listen to the one read by Cassandra Campbell. One of the reviewers expressed dissatisfaction with Mira Sorvino reading and I agreed. Her reading was too choppy.
Average customer rating:
- Crouching Tiger On the Road
- The Tokaido Road
- Another Dissenting View: Lightweight derivative romp
- Superlative novel--evocative, exciting, enchanting
- One of my top ten
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The Tokaido Road: A Novel of Feudal Japan
Lucia St Clair Robson
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0345370260
Release Date: 1991-01-30 |
Book Description
After the execution of her father, the young and beautiful Lady Asano, who now calls herself Cat, is in grave danger: the powerful Lord Kira's campaign against her family is continuing and she must find Oishi, the leader of the fighting men of the Asano clan. Cat believes he is three hundred miles to the southwest in the imperial city of Kyoto.
Disguising her loveliness in the humble garments of a traveling priest, Cat begins her quest along the fabled Tokaido Road. All she has is her samurai training, her deadly, six-foot-long naginata, and her quick wits. And she will need them all, for a ronin has been hired to pursue her, a mysterious man who will play a role in Cat's drama that neither could have ever imagined. . . .
"Breathtaking . . . Intriguing . . . It reminds us that the Japanese regard eroticism as an art, a skill as cultivated as flower arranging and pouring tea." -- Boston Sunday Herald
Customer Reviews:
Crouching Tiger On the Road.......2007-08-25
I've enjoyed this novel three times - once for the plot, once for the characters, once for the marvelous details of life in 18th century Japan. Based on a famous Japanese story (the 47 Ronin) but with a heroine at its center, "Road" fascinates. Our heroine - Cat - is beautiful and brave. Born a samurai, she was carefully educated and sheltered. But when her father is killed and her mother endangered, she first sells herself to a geisha house to support her mother. But the evil lord Kira targets her for assassination. She flees to meet her enemy head-on. She's trailed by a hired assassin who falls in love with her from afar, admiring her skill and nerve. She picks up and educates a peasant girl and helps in the girl's romance with a farmer. Between the four of them, the layers of class distinction are illuminated even as they break down. If you liked "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" the chances are you'll enjoy this novel as much as I did.
The Tokaido Road.......2007-04-23
If the person who thinks I lifted scenes from Oliver Statler's Japanese Inn had read more than two books on the subject--Statler's and mine--- she would have realized that he and I probably used many of the same sources in our research. Since both our books are fiction neither of us included a complete bibliography. However, in the Author's Notes I did list several of the 188 sources I consulted while writing The Tokaido Road.
Another Dissenting View: Lightweight derivative romp.......2007-02-15
Whether or not you enjoy Tokaido Road depends largely upon your aim in reading it. If you're looking for nuanced characters, a well developed plot, or deeper insights into the realities of the actual Tokaido Road, this is not the book for you. It's most decidedly a work of romantic historical fiction, with plenty of gratuitious erotic elements thrown in to spice things up.The characters are stock figures, with little development, and the melodrama is tedious. Yes, the extensive historical research is apparent. But interestingly, I ordered Oliver Statler's Japanese Inn, at the same time as this novel, and read it immediately afterwards. The author appears to have borrowed heavily from Statler's account- so much so, that it seems at times that she simply incorporated entire incidents from Statler's book into her own. If you're really interested in Tokugawa history/art/culture, skip this one and buy a copy of Statler's wonderful and humorous work.
Superlative novel--evocative, exciting, enchanting.......2007-01-07
This will probably always be one of my favorite novels. Evokes the atmosphere and setting of feudal Japan--the beauty, the poverty, and the poetry. Well-drawn characters with growth and compassion in the midst of brutality and poverty. A gentle love story too, and humor and hope in the midst of adversity. A very intelligent novel for those intellectuals out there looking for a story that is a cut above the rest--this one is well above the rest. An exciting adventure.
The Tokaido Road brought the era to life for me--so much so that I wrote a college term paper discussing the government and culture of the period. I just reread the novel--a month after finishing the term paper--and appreciated the book at a whole new level. Highly recommended.
One of my top ten.......2006-01-15
Lucia is an honest writer, and respects both her subject and her readers. I have had at least a dozen copies of this book, and have worn out three or four; the rest have gone to friends who have fallen in love with The Tokaido Road and so keep the loaned book as a gift. The characters are at once familiar and alien: familiar humans in (to a 21st century American) an alien culture. While the need for revenge is understandable, Lucia helps the reader to understand why it is so important, and how terrible as well as how beautiful it can be. My only sorrow is that she hasn't revisited the novel's location. I'd love to read more.
Book Description
This is the fourth installment in the delicious "Mapp & Lucia" series, and a hilarious study of 1930's manners and the pecking order in the fictional English village of Tilling. Having long ago conquered the timid town of Riseholme, Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas finds herself rather bored and so rents a summer place in Tilling. To be specific, she rents the home of Miss Elizabeth Mapp, queen of all she surveys from her garden window. Immediately the gauntlet is thrown down as the two would-be arbiters of good taste battle it out over excruciatingly endless musicales, phony Italian conversation and bad homemade art. Assisted by her aide-de-camp Georgie, a supremely fussy and utterly cowed sidekick, Lucia marches in...but Mapp is not without her supporters, or her binoculars.
Customer Reviews:
Gentile warfare!.......2005-08-16
E F Benson's characters are just sublimely and achingly funny, it seems with Mapp and Lucia he was aiming to scrutinise and satarise the nosensical heirarchy and rivalry of bored and over privelaged upper middle class folk.
This aspect of the British Class system was one he knew well and which was breathing it's last in the times in which Mapp and Lucia live, witness the somewaht irritating coldness with which the Ladies treat their Maids, Drivers and Shop staff.
Lucia is the dominant character, lithe, fashionable and razor sharp while Mapp is clumsy, mumsy and opts for bulldog tactics.
The two appear in many novels, Lucia more often and one cannot help wonder if she was based on a Lady whom Benson was ever so slightly in love with, but here they meet for the first time, as Lucia moves to "Tilling" for the summer in Mapps rented out home "Mallards". The array of colurful charcters they surround themselves with and draw into their delighfully bitchy and cunning war agaisnt each other, are of equal delight, of particualr note are Quaint Irene and Georgie. Perhaps seen as little more than bohemian in their day but doubtless these characters would now be seen as obviously Lesbain and Gay; with the former being in love with Lucia. A daring inclusion in Benson's time but subtle and beautifully inclusive one.
Fans of these deliciously naughty pair should see the 1986 TV series which is available on DVD. Geraldine McKewan (of current Miss Marple fame)is petite, pretty, acid and simply perfect as Lucia while Prunella Scales (Cybil of Fawlty Towers) brings Miss Mapp to dusty, dowdy and bullish life! Excellent stuff!
The series was filmed in Rye in Sussex, home town of Benson, it used many locations close to his home (Lamb House), such as the lovley houses of Watchbell Street (My favourite being No 11 which was used as Godiva's house) and "Twistevens" shop on Mermaid Street, actually a Tea Room in reality.
WELL WORTH A VISIT! Literature fans may also wish to know that Lamb House was once home to American novelist, Henry James before Benson's time. One can also visit Benson's Grave in the town. Benson was Lord Mayor of Rye for a while and the river "Tilling"-ton flows through the town.
Only five stars?!.......2005-05-08
Read these books and discover the truth. It's all there -- the vanity, greed, passion, jealousy, and exultation. Don't let the objects of all these towering emotions fool you (lobster recipes, psychic bridge, red currant fool, babytalk Italian, dead budgies, suspect gurus, the Moonlight Sonata), it is the stuff of life!
Heaven help my credit card..........2003-05-04
Oover the last fifteen years I have been meaning to read certain authors. H.E. Bates, Anthony Trollope, P.G. Wodehouse, E.F. Benson and the like.
Last week I succumbed to a nasty bout of influenza and E.F. Benson. I had grabbed the slender volume of "Mapp & Lucia" from the library shelf and it had rested in my bookcase for almost a week. Not wanting to dull my brain with endless hours of television, I cracked open "Mapp & Lucia".
Ten pages into the book and I was hooked. Lucia, her period of mourning almost over is looking to regain her iron control on her hometown. First action, regain her star role as Queen Elizabeth in the village fete.
As I read Lucia's plots and plans, a strange thought hit me. Lucia is the creature Hyacinth Bucket (the main character of the BBC's Keeping Up Appearances) secretly dreams of being. Having taken over the fete from her dazed and confused friend, Lucia goes onto greater pastures, the hometown of Miss Elizabeth Mapp, reigning social goddesss.
Miss Elizabeth Mapp (known as Mapp) plots with her friends to rent out their respective homes a profit. Lucia and her best friend (a gentleman who brings to mind a cross between KUA's Richard and AYBS Mr Humphries) move and slowly begin to take over the town. Mapp is not pleased and a genteel war of one-upsmanship begins between the two ladies.
Drawings are rejected from the art exhibit, parties given, ownership of produce and fruit desputed with the poor town in the middle. Matters come to a head on Boxing Day (December 26) when Mapp decides to steal a longed for recipe that Lucia refuses to give to her.
Lucia stumbles on her rival in the kitchen and both women are swept out to sea on Lucia's kitchen table (yes, Lucia's kitchen table, this is a not a mis-type). The town mourns the two ladies as lost and the Great War of Mapp-Lucia as over.
Okay, enough said. You'll have to succumb to the collective charms of the ladies Mapp and Lucia yourself and find out all the bits I've left out. Now, I'm off hunt down and read the rest of E.F. Benson's wonderful books.
Cheerful Malice.......2003-03-02
"Mapp & Lucia" is like reading Trollope's "Barchester Towers" with the gloves off. The teacup may be small, but the battles rumble like thunder on the bay. Lucia is incredible. She combines absolute self-absorption with ironclad charming resolve to succeed in her every endeavor. She really is wasted being queen of Society in a small English village when fulfilling the duties of Lord High Admiral would not cause her so much as a tiny frown.
Lucia is a newly minted widow in this hilarious outing. Her fires have been banked, and she is anxious to get back in the swing and show her mettle. She rents a house for the summer from the formidable Miss Elizabeth Mapp of Tilling. Miss Mapp is clearly the leader of society in Tilling and revels in her role. Lucia eyes the situation, and the lines are drawn in the most charming but resolute way possible Lucia is the richer of the two and possibly more clever, but Miss Mapp has some powerful advantages of her own. She has pride of place, a town full of quaking allies, and indomnable perseverance. When these two square off, the fun begins and doesn't let up.
This is a delightful read, a mood lifter of the first magnitude. "Mapp & Lucia" is my introduction to Lucia, and I cannot wait to further my acquaintance with this fascinating lady.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
Mapp and Lucia: Napoleons of the Tea Room.......2002-10-23
This is the first book I've read in E.F. Benson's "Lucia" series, and it is fun-filled ride indeed. For Benson novices, Lucia Lucas is a middle aged, recently widowed (in this novel), perfectly nice upper middle class woman who just happens to have the mind of Machavelli. Missing her obvious calling for World Domination, she is instead content to rule the social life of her small English village with an iron fist. As "Mapp and Lucia" begins however, Lucia has long since deposed any serious threat to her social dominance in her immediate vicinity, and decides fresher pastures are in order. She packs up her things (including , of course, best friend and right-hand-man Georgie) and moves to Tilling, where she expects she will be made society Queen in no time flat. Unfortunately for Lucia, Tilling already has a Queen, one Elizabeth Mapp, and she has no intention of relinquishing her crown.
The scene is thus set for a true Battle Royal, only in Tilling the battelfields are luncheons and dinner parties, and the weapons fruit gardens and lobster recipes. The results are very very funny, as the genteel of Tilling spend a breathless year thoroughly enjoying each swipe, snub and put down. The hilarious climax has our heroines floating out to sea on an overturned kitchen table, with Lucia's last audible words promising delicious gossip just as soon as she gets out of her current mess.
Benson draws his characters exquisitely well, I found myself flat out liking her. She is an Englishwomen of the 1930's, past her prime but still youthful, who just happens to be blessed (cursed?) with the personality of an Alpha Male. The resulting battle of wits with the formidable Mapp is fascinating; Mapp is clearly not her intellectual equal but through a mixture of deviousness and and cunning manages to pull the carpet from underneath Lucia's carefully laid plans time and again. The supporting characters are equally well written, with best friend Georgie and Mapp's crony Diva especially amusing.
All in all, a funny, entertaining and biting satire that is well worth reading whether you are already a Lucia fan or are picking up a Benson novel for the first time. Highly recommended!
Book Description
Using her best social-climbing instincts and refusing to be embarrassed, Lucia sets out to conquer London and mingle with the beau monde. Soon a secret group of "Luciaphiles" springs up; the social climbers who make up its rank never tire of watching her get into and out of all kinds of trouble.
Customer Reviews:
A must buy: Geraldine McEwan IS Lucia.......2003-11-03
Since the other reviews here relate to the printed version of the E.F. Benson book, I thought I'd chime in with a review that is specific to this CD version read by Geraldine McEwan.
McEwan starred as Lucia in the delightful "Mapp and Lucia" series in the mid-1980s. It's out on DVD now and I highly recommend you snatch it up immediately before it goes out of print. It's one of the very best British comedies ever.
In the series, McEwan establishes what I consider to be the definitive version of Lucia. She is so delightful that as soon as I found out her readings of two of the Lucia books had also been recorded, I bought them -- although I had never purchased books on tape/CD before.
Suffice it so say, I was not disappointed. McEwan is a wonderful reader who brings out all the wit of the books, and I can't stress enough how marvelous it is to hear her once again using her "Lucia voice."
This has my highest recommendation.
Utterly delightful.......2002-04-04
Continuing the extraordinary adventures of Lucia, Benson's delightful story is full of the gossip and social-climbing one comes to expect of Lucia. Peppino, Lucia's husband, inherits a fortune and a house in London after the death of his aunt. Lucia has been the queen of all of Riseholme for ages, with her court including her best friend Georgie, an eternal bachelor who embroiders. When she ascends to London, Riseholme is bereft and feeling slighted, but soon they plot their revenge. Unfortunately for them, Lucia conquers London's high society and overcomes all obstacles in her path to greatness. But can Lucia keep up the pace of London society? And does she plan to desert her beloved Riseholme forever? The Lucia series, beginning with "Queen Lucia", is a delicious concoction of maliciousness and snobbery that will convert any reader.
I like Lucia in the country.......2002-03-25
I prefer Lucia in the country, though it is fun to see her get her comeuppance so regularly. Using her best social-climbing instincts and refusing to be embarrassed, Lucia sets out to conquer London and mingle with the beau monde. Soon a secret group of "Luciaphiles" springs up; the social climbers who make up its rank never tire of watching her get into and out of all kinds of trouble.
Luciaphils!.......2001-06-27
This is the ultimate book for social climbers everywhere - Lucia the Queen of the tiny town of Riseholm goes to London and takes the town by storm.
This is such a brilliant story - absolutely hilarious - full of the beauty of social sycophancy and insincerity. Everyone knowing what is going on except Lucia who is (almost always) triumphant.
When Lucia's husband's aunt dies they are left with a house in London (and when the news is received in Risehome much calculation is doneby everyone based on no real facts at all.) It is up to Lucia's sidekick, Georgie, to wheedle the news out of her about the house in London and the income.
Lucia, who has always stated how she loathes London has now (very reluctantly you understand) decided to go to London for the season. Her departure from Riseholme however has a number of effects - the first being the power vacuum in Riseholme itself, and secondly she really does end up taking London by storm. Even the most vague of acquaintances of hers are treated as close bosom friends and called by their first names and name dropped shamelessly by her everywhere. This goes on till there is a firm group of Luciaphils in London who are so astonished and appreciative of her powers as the Queen of Social climbing that they establish an informal club to help her and to admire her mastery at work.
In Riseholme life does not go on without Lucia, it goes on firmly DESPITE her - everyone is determined to make a success of their village in her absence to show how much she is not at all needed there. There is the museum to establish,and then Daisy Quantock has helped them all discover the Ouija Board and the powerful spirit Guide (Abfou). They spend a great deal of time 'weedj-ing' for signs of what to do next.
If you haven't discovered Lucia novels yet, you must - Benson writes wonderful sardonic stories full of the small, pettiness of village life and its power struggles. This is wonderful light, laugh out loud stuff.
Not much testosterone, but plenty of chuckles........2001-01-25
Lucia Lucas (born Emmeline Smith) wished the world to know that the recent death of her husband's aunt, who was 83 years old and who had spent the last seven of them bed-ridden in a private lunatic asylum, was "a grievous blow". Suppressed were the facts that neither Lucia nor her husband had hitherto given much thought to the aunt, and the fact that when Lucia's husband last visited the aunt, seven years previously, she bit him. No, the world must be convinced that the death of "dear Aunt Amy" was not a "happy release", it was "a grievous blow", requiring the wearing of veils, the drawing of blinds, and stoically-born, inconsolable suffering.
So begins E F Benson's 1927 novel "Lucia In London", one of six in which the author chronicles the worlds of Riseholme and its social climbing leading resident, Lucia. I say "worlds" because we are presented with two worlds. There is the real world and the world of pretence. Most characters, especially Lucia live in both worlds. What they privately covet, the publically despise. What they really feel, for example at the death of an aunt, they suppress in order to pretend to something more publically admired.
Benson's chronicles are great fun. The pretence, the point scoring, the absurdity, are richly detailed. There's not much testosterone, but there's a chuckle at least in every sentence.
Book Description
From the New York Timesbestselling author of Ghost Warriorcomes a novel of the espionage that helped win America its independence I n July of 1776, the American colonies are ablaze with passion. In the streets, those who would be free boldly read aloud the newly written Declaration of Independence. It is a time of critical confrontation, both on the battlefield and off as the people of a new nation choose between their king and an uncertain future.
Customer Reviews:
From an AP English student.......2007-05-29
After reading books like Heart of Darkness, and Benito Cereno, Shadow Patriots was happily read. I loved the character Lizzie, her strength and personality was humerous. I also enjoyed how this book was fictional, yet didn't stretch the truth very far.
Phenomenal.......2007-05-24
After being able to hear Robson speak at my school, I was overjoyed to be given the opprotunity to read her novel. Not long after reading the book I became enthralled and unable to put the book down. Every second of the book was fascinating. The way Robson wraps the historical figures in with her fictional plot is remarkable. As far as I know the book is historically accurate and has all the great names in American history such as George Washington, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamiliton, and much much more. The main character Kate Darby is truely unique and sensational. She tears down the stereotype of a damsel in distress and proves that women can do whatever they put their minds do. Incredible Novel and quick read.
An English Student.......2007-05-23
I read this book in my 11th grade English class not too long ago and it was so much more than I expected. The way the historical figures are mixed in with fictional characters makes it so interesting, and the mixing is so well done, you find yourself wondering who is made-up and who is not. On more than one occasion, I found myself unable to put the book down late at night. When I finished reading, I looked into some of the historical figures in the book, and Ms. Robson was very accurate with her information. All in all, this book makes history come alive!
Shadow Patriots.......2007-05-17
This book was absolutely incredible for its detail. I loved reading the description of how life was in the time period. Robson's little tidbits-perfectly placed throughout the story- were so fascinating and knowing they were true added to the story. Robson made me feel as though I were there in the war and knew all the characters. It was not a typical book about the Revolution. It was captivating; I could not put it down. Its plot kept getting better and better with each page, and the ending, although sad, was perfect. The book was suprising and entertaing from the first to the last word.
Kate and Lizzie were characters I adored. Kate's bravery to help her brother, and Lizzie's devotion to Seth were fantastic attributions to each character and helped me identify with them. While reading, I didn't feel as though I was learning about history, which is a perfect way for historical fiction book to be written.
Loved it! .......2007-05-14
If you have interest in revolutionary times in USA this is a must read. The role that Quakers played in the war was very interesting to me. You will not be sorry you bought it.
Product Description
The energetic, pretentious and often malicious Lucia's reign over Riseholme's gentry is challenged by Olga, the dazzling diva. A fraudulent guru and the exposure of her faulty Italian never quite puncture Lucia's inflated ego. Almost a laugh per page! Four 90-minute cassettes and two 60's.
Download Description
It might be thought that even such activities as have here been indicated would be enough to occupy anyone so busily that he would positively not have time for more, but such was far from being the case with Mrs Lucas. Just as the painter Rubens amused himself with being the ambassador to the Court of St. James--a sufficient career in itself for most busy men--so Mrs Lucas amused herself, in the intervals of her pursuit of Art for Art's sake, with being not only an ambassador but a monarch.
Customer Reviews:
Oh, to be reading this for the first time again..........2006-02-04
But it absolutely repays repeated visits, as well. E. F. Benson, the probably homosexual son of a Victorian Archbishop of Canterbury and a noted lesbian, has a marvelous eye for the inter-war social scene in Upper Middle-Class England.
This is the first book of the series, where we meet Lucia and her redoubtable aide-de-camp the utterly charming Georgie. The first chapter is probably the slowest in the whole series--it takes a while to introduce these improbably horrid people
And they are--for the most part--truly horrid. Benson's gift is in making it quite clear he loves these ghastly people, and by the end of the book so do we. What is worse (or better) is recognizing one's friends in the characters of the book. Even more shocking, this reader will at times recognize traits of his own (I won't share which character I think I am most like). Human nature is less changing than we like to think in these early years of the twenty-first century.
Benson lovingly skewers the foible of his own age and does so with a slice of society no larger than any portrayed by Jane Austen. His eye is as keenly observant as hers, but his humor much more developed.
A certain level of sophistication makes these books more enjoyable, but there is something for anyone who enjoys a good read. There is nothing in here that would make the even the most prudish blush, but they are definitely for an adult taste.
A Treasure!!!.......2004-08-18
It is clear why there are societies devoted to both author E.F. Benson and his six delightful "Mapp and Lucia" novels. Benson became known for this beloved, satirical series which has dry British wit and lightness reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse (although Wodehouse is in a class by himself), but he was equally superb at ghost/supernatural stories. The fact that he excelled at two vastly different styles and genres is fascinating.
This first book, Queen Lucia, introduces the inimitable Emmeline Lucas (Lucia to her friends), social arbiter and queen of the quaint hamlet of Riseholme, who finds her throne in jeopardy with the arrival of Olga Braceley, an opera singer. No one is better at social satire (and satire of British class systems) than the British and yet these timeless characters and their quirky ambitions are recognizable to anyone. Husband Phillip (known as Peppino) puts out his own printing press. There is Lucia's foppish neighbor and best friend, Georgie Pillson, who keeps her current in gossip, joins her at the piano in classical duets and converses with her in smatterings of bad Italian and baby talk; neighbor Daisy Quantock who ruffles Lucia's fur by introducing a "Guru" to the community and igniting yoga fever; and other colorful characters. From the beginning, I was laughing out loud at humor that is dry, absurd and priceless.
This series was also brought brilliantly to life by a PBS TV series "Mapp and Lucia" in which Prunella Scales stars as Lucia and Geraldine McEwan as Lucia's rival (introduced in a later book), Miss Mapp, both women terrific. Like the books, the series had me laughing out loud.
The first and fourth books are the best, but highly recommend reading them all. Humor is a great tonic.
A must buy: Reader Geraldine McEwan IS Lucia.......2003-11-03
Since the other reviews here relate to the printed version of the E.F. Benson book, I thought I'd chime in with a review that is specific to this CD version read by Geraldine McEwan.
McEwan starred as Lucia in the delightful "Mapp and Lucia" series in the mid-1980s. It's out on DVD now and I highly recommend you snatch it up immediately before it goes out of print. It's one of the very best British comedies ever.
In the series, McEwan establishes what I consider to be the definitive version of Lucia. She is so delightful that as soon as I found out her readings of two of the Lucia books had also been recorded, I bought them -- although I had never purchased books on tape/CD before.
Suffice it so say, I was not disappointed. McEwan is a wonderful reader who brings out all the wit of the books, and I can't stress enough how marvelous it is to hear her once again using her "Lucia voice."
This has my highest recommendation.
I am now a Luciaphile!.......2003-10-26
And proud of it...
I began this series because of recommendations from those who enjoyed Wodehouse. Although It's much dryer in the humor department than Wodehouse, the series is lovely and possesses that crisp hard edged satire that only Brits seem to be able to master. His skewering is principally focused on a narcissist who, despite her braggart ways, you can't take your eyes off and wouldn't want to live without. I've read all six in short succession, and I do agree with most reviewers that the final three are his strongest. I am sorry that we are left with only the six novels, but at least we have those. Long live Lucia!
A nice read.......2002-12-21
Queen Lucia is the first in the series of novels that invite us in to Riseholm and the lives of it's residents. Lucia is the snobbish self appointed but undisputed Queen of everything cultural in this small rural english village. However she finds herself challenged unintentionally by Olga Bracely a famous opera singer who takes up residence in the village. As she fights for her throne the reader is witness to the malice, manipulation and backstabbing that is just under the surface in village life. As in all good stories Lucia is all but dethrowned and then regains the upper hand once again. The book is witty, full of interesting if somewhat strange characters and entertaining. After first reading Queen Lucia I felt a little disapointed having heard Bentley described as being on a par with Wilde, Wodehouse and Coward. I do not find this claimed level of wit and word smithing in Queen Lucia myself, however once I got past this disappointment I found myself both entertained by and fond of this novel.
Average customer rating:
- The saga of the Mapp Duel..a delight!
- Such fun
- Hilarious fun in a small English village
- she's worse than you mother-in-law, but more fun to read
- Wicked Fun!
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Miss Mapp
E. F. Benson , and
E.F. Benson
Manufacturer: Moyer Bell
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Similar Items:
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Queen Lucia: A Novel (Lucia)
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Lucia's Progress: A Novel (Lucia Series)
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Trouble for Lucia: A Novel
-
Mapp & Lucia
-
Lucia in London (Make Way for Lucia, Part II)
ASIN: 1559212756 |
Book Description
E. F. Benson's strikingly original comic creation Miss Mapp is an arch-schemer and social climber from the British town of Tilling who spends her days using opera glasses and a notebook to chart her neighbors' affairs. Among her interests are Major Benjamin Flint, whom she has been trying to marry for years, and the underhanded Miss Susan Poppit.
Customer Reviews:
The saga of the Mapp Duel..a delight!.......2007-01-02
This book from the hilarious pen of Benson, is odd in a certain way. After all, Miss Mapp is the queen of Tilling in the book, and undisputed depot who rules with an iron tongue! Where is our dear Lucia, Mapp's sworn enemy, and the pretender to the throne? Well, she is back in her original home of Riseholme, with her dear husband Peppino. Those who know the Mapp and Lucia Saga from the wonderful television series, might find it strange to have Mapp ruling the roost without interference, however it makes for a delightful read (with one oblique allusion to Lucia), and shows that Miss Mapp is a strong enough character to carry her own book. The most significant event (though hardly significant at all really) is the rumored duel between Puffin and Flint over the affections of Miss Mapp. What really occured on that misty morning? Read this brilliant piece of humor to find out. I love it!
Such fun.......2002-06-17
Miss Elizabeth Mapp lives in the English village of Tilling and there she attempts to be part of the cream of Tilling's society. With a steady diet of gossip, Miss Mapp and her circle of fellow residents flavor their lives with eyes on the goal of status. Benson's sharply observed and satirical tale is part of the Mapp & Lucia series, which pokes fun at English society of the times. Like an early ancestor of "Dynasty" or anything else produced by Aaron Spelling, the Mapp and Lucia stories are big fun for any Anglophile or fan of camp literature.
Hilarious fun in a small English village.......2001-06-21
Miss Mapp rules the tiny English village of Tilling- that is she rules those who matter. It is a tiny circle of people who have enough class to rate her attention - but she manipulates and lauds over them with machiavellian schemes, and intelligent surmises - and she is intelligent.
Benson has written a village with a range of gorgeous characters - from Diva who is Miss Mapp's great rival, to Irene the local artist who keeps embarrassing Miss Mapp with her prosaic pronouncements. Then there is the local Vicar who talks in a combination of Shakespearian English and Burnsian dialect. There is also Mrs Poppit who is an up and coming social climber (hardly worthy of Miss Mapp's notice) and the novel begins with Miss Mapps machinations to the Poppitt Bridge party.
Village life you see seems to run around Bridge parties. In this petty world of card games there is a great deal of opportunity to expose one another's weaknesses and Miss Mapp, in order to be the center of village life in Tilling finds no object too petty to exploit. This is a novel of small things made into huge issues because of the smallness of the village. There is Miss Mapps constant running battle to dress better than Diva, the competition over Mr Wyse's attentions (with his supposed comtessa sister), and the ever pressing desire to be the First To Know all the gossip in town.
The physical descriptions both through the characters minds and from Benson's pen are wonderful for instance Diva is always depicted as whirling around the place - her legs circling. Mrs Poppit is ever present in a huge and weighty sable coat.
This is a wonderful book, and beautifully written. Benson seems to me to be very influenced by Austen - there is the small and claustrophobic atmosphere of village life - the characters (Miss Mapp seems so like Mrs Norris of Austen's 'Mansfield Park') to me - and then there are the odd Austen Names (in this case the Coles feature strongly as a family that is not quite up to snuff - just as the Coles are in 'Emma'). If nothing else Benson writes of English village life in the 1920's with the same Ironic pen as Austen did of village life in the early nineteenth century.
Highly recommended if you want a couple of days of laughter.
she's worse than you mother-in-law, but more fun to read.......2001-03-01
Well, after meeting Queen Lucia, I quite enjoyed learning all about Tilling and its dear Miss Mapp. You will wonder who she visited in Riseholm, and you will die from the anticipation of the two ladies meeting up in subsequent books (you won't be disappointed!). The characters are fantastic, the situations are comic, and I absolutely loved this book! I am officially hooked on the entire series! I hope you will try it and love it just as much as I.
Wicked Fun!.......2000-07-08
Not only will the Reader of today recognize Miss Mapp amongst her acquaintances, dear Reader is only too likely to see *herself* in caricature. (I, for one, am Diva Plaistow; no getting round it.) A delight from the first paragraph, "Miss Mapp" is even more enjoyable if you've read the first two in the Lucia chronicles. Librarina@netscape.net
Customer Reviews:
ah.... sisters...........2006-11-05
The title of this book in Spanish translates as, "Love, Curiosity, Prozac and Doubts", with apologies to Dorothy Parker (Love, Curiosity, Freckles and Doubt). Written in the voices of three Madrilena (from Madrid) sisters - primarily the youngest (and wildest) - this novel examines the difficulties that modern young women in Spain encounter at all levels of society.
The youngest sister is a recreational drug user and likes sex much too much for her sisters' taste. The oldest sister is a top-notch business woman - a very rough road to hoe in a macho-istic society in a male-oriented sector of that society - who the younger sister believes needs a few more drug and a little more sex in her life. The middle sister is drowning in the depression of her role as an under appreciated housewife and mother (her sisters' can't seem to understand why she isn't happy).
Spanish women and their emotional needs seem to be largely ignored by the popular media - in large part because Spanish women have always been expected to put up and shut up and be happy for what they have. This book addresses some of the more pressing issues that many young Spanish women are likely dealing with at a less pressing level. It is very well written, and successfully incorporates plenty of humor and anger with the ways that all of our families make us crazy.
Book Description
Lucia and Mapp's amusing adventures in Tilling continue in Lucia's Progress. The redoubtable pair stand unsuccessfully for election to the Town Council. Lucia enters a too-chaste marriage with Georgie. And after a house swap with the infamous Miss Mapp, Lucia redecorates, only to discover - and then hide - the remains of a Roman villa! "These stories are addictive!" - Boston Globe
Customer Reviews:
Sheer Delight.......2007-04-27
The photo may show "Lucia in London" (the second book in the Lucia series), but this does appear to link the fifth book in the series, with Lucia firmly ensconsed into Tilling and ready to make a foray into local politics. All of Benson's Lucia novels are a delight, a sharp and biting look at life of the well-to-do country upper middle class between the wars. If you haven't met either Lucia or Mapp, I heartly recommend picking these stories up. The concerns of the characters are simple, shallow, their quarrels petty and sometimes observed with resignation by those outside their circle, but the prose still sparkles some seventy years after it was written.
You are confusing me........2007-03-01
The book pictured is Lucia in London, but the one reveiwed is Lucia's Progress, which was previously published under another name entirely, but that other name is not Lucia in London... really,have mercy on us!
couldn't wait to read this one!.......2001-03-01
This was the fourth book I read in Benson's Lucia series--by the time I sped through the first three, I simply could not wait to pick this one up. I was not disappointed! The back stabbing only gets better. I laughed out loud so many times while reading in bed--my husband began to wonder just what in the world I was up to. Highly reccommended (I never can spell that right)--anyway, buy them all, and put your name in them in permanent and prominent places if you choose to loan them out--otherwise, you'll never get them back!
Nice book.......2000-12-17
A delightful a book, with wonderful characters that one can almost instantly regognize. One can definetly relate with some of the aspects of this book.
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