The Mapp and Lucia Novels

This sequence of comic novels, begun in 1920, follows Emmeline Lucas (Lucia) and her rival Elizabeth Mapp through the social campaigns of Riseholme and Tilling. Lucia's cultural evenings, Italian tags, and hunger for the first place in any gathering meet Mapp's gossip, garden-room surveillance, and talent for the well-timed snub. Friends such as Georgie Pillson, Diva Plaistow, and Quaint Irene fill the supporting roles. Each book is a season of parties, elections, and small humiliations. The set is a comedy of provincial one-upmanship, not a single romance and not a satire of national politics.

6 leaves of illustrations in each volume. Full cloth binding in a different pastel colour for each volume with an illustration. Blue-grey six-volume slipcase printed in black with title and image.