Now Mayor of Tilling - and married to Georgie Pillson - Lucia is charged with selecting a woman to be her Mayoress. In the name of holding one's friends close and one's enemies even closer, she opts for her rival Elizabeth Mapp-Flint, hoping to keep her muzzled by gratitude. Meanwhile, she is kept busy with local politics, swooping through the village on her bicycle (whilst repeatedly failing to engage the brakes), and attending a seance where the spirit of Blue Birdie - a budgerigar who m...

1920s: 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: perfectly situated to give an uninterrupted view of the main street. For her main occupation is observing and guiding the local inhabitants - from Irene Coles, the town bohemian who strides about the place in gentleman's clothing; to Isabel Poppit, who dares to infringe upon Miss Mapp's own patented recipe for iced red-currant fool - besides attempti...

Soon to be revived in a new BBC series, Mapp and Lucia is a poisonous witty, comic tale of two upper-class women battling for social supremacy in the most underhand ways possible. Meet Mapp and Lucia - two of the most unpleasant, disgraceful women you're ever likely to encounter, in E.F. Bensons carefully observed tale of 1930s village life and social ranking. Emmeline Lucas (known as Lucia to her friends) is emerging from mourning following the death of her husband. Pretentious, snobbish ...

The story is set around the Wentworth mention, a small boarding house in Bolton Spa and its owners and lodgers. They are quite unlikable, mainly upper-middle-class English people who came to the Spa to cure their body illnesses, but also to fill the time and escape boredom despite having no passions, interests and work. A delightful book for anybody familiar with Benson’s work, full of all the usual light, wit and satirical caricatures that Benson does so well.

The two boys strolled into the night arm-in-arm and walked silently out on to the huge square of grass behind Fellows’ Buildings. A heavy dew had fallen after this hot day, and the surface of the grass was covered with a shimmering grey mantle of moisture, in which their steps made dark rents. Birds, as became him, whistled gently under his breath, but for a time neither of them broke the secret sense of intimate companionship by speech. No breeze stirred in the towers of the elms to the l...

More classic horror narrations on Jonathan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JonathanDunneHorrorAudiobooksTitle: The Bus ConductorAuthor: E.F. BensonNarrator: Jonathan DunneOriginal Publication: 1906Public Domain: YesSeries Placement: Timeless Terrors No. 91Description:The Bus Conductor is a...

Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching “Jonathan Dunne Horror” on YouTube.Title: Outside the DoorSeries Name: Timeless TerrorsSeries Entry: 161Author: E. F. BensonNarrator: Jonathan DunneOriginal Publication: 1910Public Domain: YesDescription:Outside...

Miss Elizabeth Mapp has recently returned home from holiday to the coastal town of Tilling, back to her painting and bridge group. But a new resident is moving into Tilling, and Miss Mapp is pleased to get ahead of her friends on the gossip when a telephone call is misdirected to her home. . .

More classic horror narrations on Jonathan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JonathanDunneHorrorAudiobooksTitle: The FaceAuthor: E. F. BensonNarrator: Jonathan DunneOriginal Publication: 1923Public Domain: YesSeries: Timeless TerrorsNumber: 114Description:The Face is...

A vicar’s stepdaughter escapes a stifling country parsonage to become a governess in London, where her latent gifts for acting ignite a consuming passion for the stage. When she marries a brilliant but dissolute young playwright, she discovers that love alone cannot shield her from betrayal—his drinking fuels his genius, while another woman exploits his weakness with calculated charm.With extraordinary patience and unflinching clarity, she refuses to judge, scheme, or surrender. As...

Meet Emmeline Lucas, known to her friends as Lucia, the undisputed social leader of the town of Riseholme, and her husband Phillip, writer of prose poems. Risholme is also home to Georgie Pillson, who plays duets with Lucia and collects bibelots, Daisy Quantock, who has discovered an Indian Guru who will teach her meditation, Olga Bracely, the operatic soprano, and Signor Cortese composer of operas.Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was an English writer and novelist. Benson's lite...

"The E.F. Benson Megapack" collects 36 of Benson's horror stories, including such classics as "The Bus-Conductor," "The Room in the Tower," and "The Thing in the Hall." Included are:AT ABDUL ALI’S GRAVETHE MAN WHO WENT TOO FARTHE CATGAVON’S EVETHE DUST-CLOUDTHE SHOOTINGS AT ACHNALEISHTHE BUS-CONDUCTORTHE HOUSE WITH THE BRICK-KILNOUTSIDE THE DOORHOW FEAR DEPARTED FROM THE LONG GALLERYTHE CONFESSION OF CHARLES LINK...