Bücher von E. F. Benson

E.F. Benson, in full Edward Frederic Benson, (born July 24, 1867, Wellington College, Berkshire, Eng.-died Feb. 29, 1940, London), writer of fiction, reminiscences, and biographies, of which the best remembered are his arch, satirical novels and his urbane autobiographical studies of Edwardian and Georgian society.The son of E.W. Benson, an archbishop of Canterbury (1883-96), the young Benson was educated at Marlborough School and at King's College, Cambridge. After graduation he worked from 1892 to 1895 in Athens for the British School of Archaeology and later in Egypt for the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. In 1893 he published Dodo, a novel that attracted wide attention. It was followed by a number of other successful novels-such as Mrs. Ames (1912), Queen Lucia (1920), Miss Mapp (1922), and Lucia in London (1927)-and books on a wide range of subjects, totaling nearly 100. Among them were biographies of Queen Victoria, William Gladstone, and William II of Germany. In 1938 he was made an honorary fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Benson's reminiscences include As We Were (1930), As We Are (1932), and Final Edition (1940). (britannica.com)

E. F. Benson's subject is always the petty concerns of petty people, but his talent is to make those concerns nearly as important to us as they are to his characters. For us, what happens to Benson's people is also much funnier than it is to them.As with the Mapp and Lucia books Benson began to write in the 1920s, Mrs. Ames (1912) deals with the struggle of two women to be the dominant social maven in their little town. Millie Evans and Amy Ames are cousins and rivals for the title of supreme hostess of Riseborough, and an additional frisson is added to the plot by the dalliance of Millie and Major Ames, Amy's husband. Mrs. Ames dares to invite only one member of each prominent Riseborough couple to a dinner party. Mrs. Evans counters with a fancy dress ball with a Shakespearean theme, and Benson makes hilarious use of the ball's glut of Cleopatras and paucity of Antonys. Then Mrs. Ames begins to read suffragette tracts, and as Benson writes, "the fumes of an idea, to one who had practically never tasted one, intoxicated her as new wine mounts to the head of a teetotaler." (Michael Cohen)

The book starts with a reference to Damon and Pythias, which in the Victorian age -- and apparently also into the first few decades of the 20th century, given this book's publication date -- was code for same-sex love. Here the love that dare not speak its name (but almost does, as is characteristic of Benson's work) is between Robin and his best buddy from (Eton and then) Cambridge. But the bond between the two young men is completely incidental to the main plot: in fact, as the story progresses, it turns out it is primarily about Robin's mother, the rather wonderful Lady Grote and how, when WW1 upsets her pleasure-seeking existence and demands something more of her, she manages to step up to the occasion. The book has excellent characterisation, and is beautifully written, with witty dialogue, lyrical descriptions of the natural world, and an ending a tad too edifying for modern sensibilities. (Aleardo Zanghellini)

This classic novel by E. F. Benson was originally published in 1924. Benson was a prolific writer of his time, producing over 90 novels. He is best known for his ghost stories. We are republishing this classic works with a new introductory biography of the author.

A collection of the finest short stories by E. F. Benson - one of the greatest horror and fantasy writers, and one of H. P. Lovecraft's favourite all-time authors. Including the classic tales 'The Room in the Tower' and 'Bagnell Terrace'

Lucia and Mapp's adventures in Tilling continue in "Lucia's Progress", also published as "The Worshipful Lucia." In this volume both Lucia and Mapp stand for election to the Town Council, and Lucia speculates in gold shares. While re-decorating Miss Mapp's house, Lucia "discovers" and hides the remains of a Roman Villa. Excitements ensue!

A stage adaptation of the novels of E.F. Benson, and the war for social supremacy between Lucia and Miss Mapp in the small coastal town of Tilling. Hitherto, Tilling's doyenne has been Miss Mapp; so when Lucia rents Miss Mapp's house for the summer, the battle lines are drawn.