Listen free for 30 days
-
The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Volume 1
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Series: Mapp and Lucia, Book 1-3
- Length: 26 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £40.49
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Queen Lucia
- By: E. F. Benson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England between the wars was a paradise of utter calm and leisure for the very, very rich. But into this enclave is born Mrs. Emmeline Lucas - La Lucia, as she is known - a woman determined to lead a life quite different from the pomp and subdued nature of her class. With her cohort, Georgie Pillson, and her husband, Peppino, she upends the greats of high society.
-
-
Love Lucia, would like more unabridged Lucia pls
- By Mrs on 22-04-14
-
Barbara Pym: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Some Tame Gazelle, No Fond Return of Love, Crampton Hodnet & More
- By: Barbara Pym
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Hannah Gordon, Samantha Bond, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbara Pym is one of the 20th-century's wittiest, and most underrated, novelists. Her perceptive comedies of manners, centred around the domestic lives and loves of unassuming middle-class Englishwomen, won her many devoted readers and saw her hailed as a modern-day Jane Austen. Yet she spent 15 years out of print in the 1960s and '70s, until Philip Larkin championed her work in the Times Literary Supplement. Her seventh novel was subsequently shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and writers from Jilly Cooper to Alexander McCall Smith continue to laud her talent today.
-
-
Hilarious!
- By Giles on 24-04-22
-
The Diary of a Provincial Lady
- Penguin Classics
- By: E. M. Delafield
- Narrated by: Kirsty Besterman
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's not easy being a Provincial Lady in Devonshire in the 1920s, juggling a grumpy husband, mischievous children and a host of domestic dilemmas - from rice mould to a petulant cook. But this Provincial Lady will not be defeated; not by wayward flower bulbs, not by unexpected houseguests, not even by the Blitz. She will continue to preside over the W.I., endure rain-drenched family picnics and succeed as a published author, all the while tending to her strawberries.
-
-
Definitely worth getting
- By Seagull on 13-05-21
-
The Complete Barchester Chronicles (Dramatisation)
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Anna Massey, Alex Jennings
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a new audio edition of the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Anthony Trollope's gently satirical tales of provincial life, available together in one download. Nearly 20 hours of ironic, witty, and wonderfully written drama is contained in this audiobook. The cast includes Anna Massey, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Rosemary Leach, Kenneth Cranham, Emma Fielding, and Brenda Blethyn.
-
-
Barchester comes alive!
- By Ian Henderson on 05-06-08
-
Murder Before Evensong
- A Canon Clement Mystery
- By: Reverend Richard Coles
- Narrated by: Reverend Richard Coles
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Canon Daniel Clement is rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother—opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey—and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn in the community, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of Champton. And then Anthony Bowness is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.
-
-
An enjoyable listen!
- By eGJ on 10-06-22
-
Queen Lucia: The BBC Radio 4 dramatisation
- By: E. F. Benson, Aubrey Woods
- Narrated by: Barbara Jefford, Jonathan Cecil, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbara Jefford is the hilariously outrageous Lucia in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the novel by E.F. Benson. Lucia is the uncrowned queen of 1920s provincial society, the Everest of social climbers and the most delicious of snobs. In the pastoral serenity of the village of Riseholme, Lucia and her unforgettable cronies face up to an Indian guru, spiritualism, and a cultural usurper.
-
-
Queen Lucia - a brilliant tour de force
- By S D BALL on 18-01-15
-
Queen Lucia
- By: E. F. Benson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England between the wars was a paradise of utter calm and leisure for the very, very rich. But into this enclave is born Mrs. Emmeline Lucas - La Lucia, as she is known - a woman determined to lead a life quite different from the pomp and subdued nature of her class. With her cohort, Georgie Pillson, and her husband, Peppino, she upends the greats of high society.
-
-
Love Lucia, would like more unabridged Lucia pls
- By Mrs on 22-04-14
-
Barbara Pym: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Some Tame Gazelle, No Fond Return of Love, Crampton Hodnet & More
- By: Barbara Pym
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Hannah Gordon, Samantha Bond, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbara Pym is one of the 20th-century's wittiest, and most underrated, novelists. Her perceptive comedies of manners, centred around the domestic lives and loves of unassuming middle-class Englishwomen, won her many devoted readers and saw her hailed as a modern-day Jane Austen. Yet she spent 15 years out of print in the 1960s and '70s, until Philip Larkin championed her work in the Times Literary Supplement. Her seventh novel was subsequently shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and writers from Jilly Cooper to Alexander McCall Smith continue to laud her talent today.
-
-
Hilarious!
- By Giles on 24-04-22
-
The Diary of a Provincial Lady
- Penguin Classics
- By: E. M. Delafield
- Narrated by: Kirsty Besterman
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's not easy being a Provincial Lady in Devonshire in the 1920s, juggling a grumpy husband, mischievous children and a host of domestic dilemmas - from rice mould to a petulant cook. But this Provincial Lady will not be defeated; not by wayward flower bulbs, not by unexpected houseguests, not even by the Blitz. She will continue to preside over the W.I., endure rain-drenched family picnics and succeed as a published author, all the while tending to her strawberries.
-
-
Definitely worth getting
- By Seagull on 13-05-21
-
The Complete Barchester Chronicles (Dramatisation)
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Anna Massey, Alex Jennings
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a new audio edition of the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Anthony Trollope's gently satirical tales of provincial life, available together in one download. Nearly 20 hours of ironic, witty, and wonderfully written drama is contained in this audiobook. The cast includes Anna Massey, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Rosemary Leach, Kenneth Cranham, Emma Fielding, and Brenda Blethyn.
-
-
Barchester comes alive!
- By Ian Henderson on 05-06-08
-
Murder Before Evensong
- A Canon Clement Mystery
- By: Reverend Richard Coles
- Narrated by: Reverend Richard Coles
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Canon Daniel Clement is rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother—opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey—and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn in the community, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of Champton. And then Anthony Bowness is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.
-
-
An enjoyable listen!
- By eGJ on 10-06-22
-
Queen Lucia: The BBC Radio 4 dramatisation
- By: E. F. Benson, Aubrey Woods
- Narrated by: Barbara Jefford, Jonathan Cecil, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbara Jefford is the hilariously outrageous Lucia in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the novel by E.F. Benson. Lucia is the uncrowned queen of 1920s provincial society, the Everest of social climbers and the most delicious of snobs. In the pastoral serenity of the village of Riseholme, Lucia and her unforgettable cronies face up to an Indian guru, spiritualism, and a cultural usurper.
-
-
Queen Lucia - a brilliant tour de force
- By S D BALL on 18-01-15
-
Mapp and Lucia
- By: E. F. Benson
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mapp and Lucia is the centrepiece of E.F. Benson's series of Lucia novels - bringing together for the first time the eponymous middle-aged doyennes of polite 1930s society Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Luca (Lucia to her friends). Lucia, recently widowed, is the newcomer to the village of Tilling and eager to wrest the reins of social supremacy from the incumbant Miss Mapp and install herself as its benevolent dictator.
-
-
all too short
- By Philip on 14-06-10
-
The Complete Short Stories
- By: Saki
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
H.H. Munro (Saki) is one of the undisputed masters of the short story. In this complete compendium, the full gamut of his subjects and themes is experienced. His stories are imbued with humorous satire, biting irony, and often the macabre, all of which have one target: the stupidities and hypocrisies of Edwardian upper-class society.
-
-
Wodehouse with teeth
- By Timbo on 17-06-21
-
Lucia in London
- By: E F Benson
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 3 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Narration topping, abridgement unnecessary.
- By Holly on 08-01-15
-
The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket
- A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Collection
- By: Mike Craig, Lawrie Kinsley, Ron McDonnell, and others
- Narrated by: George Logan, Patrick Fyffe, June Whitfield, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Hinge and Bracket, the delightful double act brought to sublime life by George Logan and Patrick Fyffe. Lifelong companions and musical collaborators, they enjoy nothing more than performing around the piano together, and trading light-hearted banter spiced with comic innuendo and a double entendre or two. Collected here are the very best of their radio appearances, including the pilot episode and first series of The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket.
-
-
Read the full description - not just the title
- By Anonymous User on 27-03-22
-
Miss Mapp
- By: E F Benson
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing escapes the snooping opera glasses of Miss Elizabeth Mapp. She whiles away her busy hours observing the small English village of Tilling, and recording the antics in her notebook. But her observations are set to be disrupted by amorous advances of two retired army generals, both vying for her affection. With Miss Mapp distracted, who will keep Miss Susan Poppit in her place or oversee the correct playing of bridge? More importantly will quiet Tilling be subject to a violent duel?
-
-
favourite book
- By Deb on 06-09-20
-
Something Fresh
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The one thing that could be expected to disturb the peace of life at Blandings is the incursion of imposters. And Blandings has imposters like other houses have mice. On this occasion, there are two of them: both intent on a dangerous enterprise.
-
-
Breathtaking
- By Seimon on 25-06-09
-
Civil to Strangers
- By: Barbara Pym, Hazel Holt - introduction
- Narrated by: Deryn Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Barbara Pym died in 1980, she left a considerable amount of unpublished material. This volume contains an early novel, Civil to Strangers, three novellas and an autobiographical essay, 'Finding a Voice', Pym's only written comment on her writing career.
-
The Adventures of Brother Cadfael
- A Collection of Chronicles
- By: Ellis Peters
- Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This collection of recordings about Brother Cadfael—a Benedictine monk and amateur sleuth in the 12th century—are performed here by the ideal actor. Sir Derek Jacobi, who portrayed Cadfael in several television adaptations, captivates listeners with his renderings of Monk's Hood, Saint Peter's Fair, The Heretic's Apprentice, The Potter's Field, The Summer of the Danes, and Brother Cadfael's Penance.
-
-
Very entertaining
- By Gayle Harris on 20-05-22
-
Less Than Angels
- By: Barbara Pym
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Less Than Angels follows the loves, works and hopes of a group of young anthropologists. Catherine Oliphant is a writer and lives with handsome anthropologist Tom Mallow. Their relationship runs into trouble when he begins a romance with student Deirdre Swann, so Catherine turns her attention to the reclusive anthropologist Alaric Lydgate, who has a fondness for wearing African masks. Added to this love triangle are the activities of Deirdre's fellow students and their attempts to win the competition for a research grant.
-
-
Disappointing.
- By Norfolk Bookworm on 25-10-19
-
Jane and Prudence
- By: Barbara Pym
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The setting of this very funny novel, one of Barbara Pym's earliest, is an English village where Jane's husband is the newly appointed vicar, and where Prudence will pay Jane a visit and find herself courted by a fatuous young widower.
-
-
A delight
- By Nakul on 30-06-12
-
Murder at the Spring Ball
- A 1920s Mystery (Lord Edgington Investigates, Book 1)
- By: Benedict Brown
- Narrated by: George Blagden
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1925. After years shut away from the world, former detective Lord Edgington of Cranley Hall plans a grand ball to celebrate his 75th birthday. But when someone starts bumping off members of his scheming family, the old man enlists his teenage grandson to help find the killer before one of them is next. The mismatched duo must pick the culprit from a gaggle of preening playboys, scatter-brained spinsters, and irate inspectors in this Agatha-Christie-style whodunnit that will have you racing to spot the killer.
-
-
Very Enjoyable
- By K E Webb on 16-01-22
-
A Glass of Blessings
- By: Barbara Pym
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wilmet Forsyth is well dressed, well looked after, suitably husbanded, good looking, and fairly young - but very bored. Her husband Rodney, a handsome army major, is slightly balder and fatter than he once was. Wilmet would like to think she has changed rather less. Her interest wanders to the nearby Anglo-Catholic church, where at last she can neglect her comfortable household in the more serious-minded company of three unmarried priests and Piers Longridge, a man of a different character altogether.
-
-
Respectable and subersive
- By Jackson on 04-04-13
Summary
Sharply observant and wickedly funny, E.F. Benson's six Mapp and Lucia novels satirize the upper-middle-class social climbers in 1920s and '30s rural England. Games of bridge and cups of tea fuel hilarious gossip and vindictive plots a-plenty. It is a masterfully sustained spotlight on the minutiae of village life - a clever and ultimately heart-warming series that seems tailor-made for audio. Volume 1 contains the first three books.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Volume 1
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wee Chrissie B
- 02-08-21
Mispronouncing Riseholme? How tarsome!
I've loved Mapp & Lucia for many years, and these narrated versions of their stories are generally excellent. But the narrator pronounces Lucia's home town variously as "Rise Home", "Rise Holme" or "Raise Holme". I'm afraid I've taken to shouting "RIZZUM!!!" at her each time I hear it mispronounced. How tarsome, as dear Georgie Pillson would say.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alison
- 28-03-21
Binge-worthy and masterfully read
Such a surprise to suddenly find the M&L unabridged collections on Audible - volume 2 is also now available.
I have long loved the stories and the sly, clever writing. And I knew I would like them being read to me, in full. But the narration is absolutely faultless, and added so much to the enjoyment. I will have to ration myself when I start volume 2, because I know I will be sad when they are finished.
This really is a treat and great value, as they are very long, so you get completely immersed. Bliss. I would now probably buy a recording of Georgina Sutton reading IKEA assembly instructions or anything, faultless.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PearlSinger
- 10-02-21
great narration
in my opinion, this is the best narration. has Part Two been completed by the same narrator?
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mellifluous
- 31-01-22
Wonderful, and with superb narration.
I love the Mapp and Lucia novels and have read them many, many times. They’re hilariously funny and brilliantly well-observed. I was a bit worried that the audio book would be a disappointment, but the narration of this version is so good that listening to it has been an absolute joy.
Each character has a totally credible, distinct and consistent voice, perfect suited to their individual character traits, but the narration isn’t overdone and doesn’t draw attention to itself by being too stagey.
Probably the best narration of any audio book I have ever listened to, so highly recommended.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr. Benjamin Ashby
- 16-12-21
Great stories, let down by pronunciation
It should be Rizzum NOT Rise-home! But that's a small complaint. It did have my inner Mapp cringing though!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adrian Tudor
- 12-06-22
A great listen
This audiobook is a great listen, and read beautifully (even though I prefer “Rizzum” to “Rise Home”). Highly recommended
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 12-08-21
Utter joy
An unabridged, beautifully narrated performance of an English Classic, long waited for. Sharply observant and divinely witty
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rebecca
- 30-07-21
Narrator needs coaching
The stories deserve ten stars - my go-to in any spare moment or needing to cheer myself up. Witty, affectionate and wicked, they have entertained me for forty years and will continue to entertain for the rest of my days.
The narrator is ok, but mispronounces Riseholme 😱Lucia would have swiftly and diplomatically corrected this by pronouncing it correctly several times in one sentence, whilst apparently utterly unconscious of the narrator’s grievous error. I’m amazed that no other Luciaphiles have picked up this fundamental error and demanded a public flogging on the Green. It jars all the way through the book.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James
- 14-04-21
glorious
I think if I had to choose a mastermind specialist subject it would be the Mapp and Lucia novels; that's how much I adore them, know them and cherish them. Fred Benson was an excellent observer and storyteller and his (in my mind) M&L novels (along with his ghost stories) are his crowning glory. you can imagine my joy to find these volumes unabridged and Georgina's narration is perfect: thank you. I'll enjoy these talking books for years to come x
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 10-04-21
disappointed
brilliant stories completely ruined by awful joyless reading. Absolutely failed to deliver any of the energy or humour written by E F Benson.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Grace M-T
- 15-06-21
At last!
I have been waiting for unabridged recordings of the Lucia novels for years. Every so often I would search “EF Benson” for them, and at last they are here. The narration is absolutely perfect, with just enough (but not too much) acid. Perfect lockdown listening, equally enjoyable now, as we renew acquaintanceship with the outside world and all its follies.
Yes, as one observer notes, both Mapp and Lucia are no better than they should be, but the discomfort arises bc we too aren’t much better, inside, even if we would need truth serum to admit it. While social norms have changed (!) since the 1920s, human nature has not, and the only sure remedy is to laugh. Bravo to Edward Frederic Benson and Georgina Sutton (Now if audible will only release EF’s Dodo books…)
Note: the chapters have no headings so for your reference, the three books start at the following chapters respectively
1: Book 1: Queen Lucia
42: Book 2: Miss Mapp. Preface
85: Book 3: Lucia in London
A pdf with complete contents can be downloaded at Naxos Audiobooks
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ElsieEmcee
- 23-02-21
PLEASE release the next volume!
PLEASE release the next volume! The reader is wonderful and the series is too. Just a little bit too acid to be twee, perfect lockdown listening. We've got to get to the next book, when Mapp and Lucia meet!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- D.W.
- 05-08-21
Grateful for an unabridged reading, bad narration.
Georgina Sutton did such a great job with "Diary of a Provincial Lady" that I was thrilled to see she was doing my favorite series. Sadly the narration is flat, and rather monotonous. She either didn't understand the stories are satirical, or didn't get the jokes, because this was a joyless rendition. Prunella Scales and Geraldine McEwen both did SO much better.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Customer o Kindle
- 03-09-21
Love Mapping and Lucia
Thank you Audible for at last providing the complete set unabridged. it took me a few listens to start enjoying the new narrator but she does a great job. I revisit Riseholme and Tilling frequently as I play solitaire or fidget around the house and I find it soothing. Then when I pay attention I always hear some scene that entertains me. Truly a classic set of polite comedies and very well done!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gee
- 12-03-21
Vicious liars
There were times when I laughed out loud, but there were more times when I had to make myself finish it because those women are such vicious, self-absorbed, narcissistic, liars. Most of the people they squashed didn't deserve it.
Nope, they are too awful and I won't do the 2nd volume.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mosky
- 20-06-22
Totally excellent!
What a bargain...hours and hours of entertainment. A wry and humourous account of times gone by, recalling the delightful PBS series. Brilliant narration.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- AR
- 18-06-22
Is it a pronounced Reezom or Ryezom?
Mapp and Lucia is one of my favorite works. I was so thrilled to find this audiobook on Audible. I’ve watched and rewatched the televised series. I was aghast therefore to hear the narrator pronouncing Rhisolme as Rye-zome instead of Reezome ( pronounced thus in the televised series). So which one is right?
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Pinxit
- 09-06-22
Terrific rendition!
Finding this excellent rendition of these enjoyable stories was a happy surprise! These books are old favorites, and there are some readers of them I don’t enjoy, but this reader is superb! On to Volume 2!