- Edward Frederic Benson
Infobox Writer
name = Edward Frederic Benson
birthname =
birthdate = Birth date|1867|July|24
birthplace = Wellington College,Berkshire
deathdate = Death date|1940|February|29
deathplace =University College Hospital ,London
occupation =
nationality =
period =
genre =
subject =
movement =
notableworks =Mapp and Lucia series
spouse =
partner =
children =
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influences =
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portaldisp =Edward Frederic Benson (
July 24 ,1867 –February 29 ,1940 ) was an Englishnovelist ,biographer ,memoirist andshort story writer , known professionally as E.F. Benson. His friends called him Fred.Life
E.F. Benson was born at Wellington College in Berkshire, the fifth child of the headmaster,
Edward White Benson (laterChancellor ofLincoln Cathedral ,Bishop of Truro andArchbishop of Canterbury ), and Mary Sidgwick Benson ("Minnie"), who was described by Gladstone as the 'cleverest woman in Europe' and after her husband's death set up alesbian household with Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury,Archibald Campbell Tait .Benson was the younger brother of Arthur Christopher Benson, who wrote the words to "
Land of Hope and Glory ", Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholicapologetic works, andMargaret Benson (Maggie) an amateurEgyptologist . Two other siblings died young. E. F. Benson never married but there is no evidence that he was homosexual, though thought so by many people.E. F. Benson was an excellent athlete, and represented England at
figure skating . He was a precocious and prolific writer, publishing his first book while still a student. Nowadays he is principally known for hisMapp and Lucia series about Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas and Elizabeth Mapp.The principal setting of four of the Mapp and Lucia books is a town called Tilling, which is recognizably based on
Rye, East Sussex , where Benson lived for many years and served asmayor from 1934 (he moved there in 1918). Benson's home,Lamb House , served as the model for Mallards, Lucia's home in some of the Tilling series. There really was a handsome 'Garden Room' adjoining the street but, unfortunately, it was destroyed by a bomb in the Second World War. Lamb House attracted writers: it was earlier the home ofHenry James , and later ofRumer Godden .In London, Benson also lived at 395
Oxford Street , W1 (now the branch of Russell & Bromley just west of Bond Street Underground Station), 102Oakley Street , SW3, and 25Brompton Square , SW3, where much of the action of "Lucia in London" takes place and whereEnglish Heritage placed aBlue Plaque in 1994.Benson died in 1940 of
throat cancer inUniversity College Hospital ,London .Works
Benson's first book was "Sketches from Marlborough". He started his novel writing career with the (then) fashionably controversial "Dodo" (1893), and he followed it with a variety of satire and romantic melodrama. The Mapp and Lucia series, written relatively late in his career, consists of six novels and three short stories. The novels are: "Queen Lucia", "Lucia in London", "Miss Mapp" (including the short story "The Male Impersonator"), "Mapp and Lucia", "Lucia's Progress" (published as "The Worshipful Lucia" in the U.S.) and "Trouble for Lucia".
The last three books were serialized by
London Weekend Television for the fledglingChannel 4 in 1985–6 under the series title "Mapp and Lucia" and starringPrunella Scales ,Geraldine McEwan andNigel Hawthorne ; the first four have been adapted forBBC Radio 4 by bothAubrey Woods and (most recently)Ned Sherrin ; the fifth, "Lucia's Progress", was adapted forBBC Radio 4 in 2008 by John Peacock. During 2007, the television series has had reruns on the British digital channelITV3 .Benson was also known as a writer of
ghost stories , which frequently appear in collections, and of a series of biographies/autobiographies and memoirs, including one ofCharlotte Brontë . His last book, delivered to his publisher ten days before his death, was an autobiography entitled "Final Edition".H.P.Lovecraft spoke highly of Benson's works in his "Supernatural Horror in Literature", most notably of his story "The Man Who Went Too Far" .A critical essay on Benson's ghost stories appears in
S. T. Joshi 's book "The Evolution of the Weird Tale" (2004).Further "Mapp and Lucia" books have been written by Tom Holt and Guy Fraser-Sampson.
Bibliography
Mapp and Lucia books (also known as the Make Way For Lucia series)
*"Queen Lucia" (1920)
*"Miss Mapp" (1922)
*"Lucia in London" (1927)
*"Mapp and Lucia" (1931)
*"Lucia's Progress" (1935, also known as "The Worshipful Lucia")
*"Trouble for Lucia" (1939)Other novels
*"Dodo: A Detail of the Day" (1893)
*"The Rubicon" (1894)
*"The Judgement Books" (1895)
*"Limitations" (1896)
*"The Babe, B.A." (1897)
*"The Money Market" (1898)
*"The Vintage" (1898)
*"The Capsina" (1899)
*"Mammon and Co." (1899)
*"The Princess Sophia" (1900)
*"The Luck of the Vails" (1901)
*"Scarlet and Hyssop" (1902)
*"An Act in a Backwater" (1903)
*"The Book of Months" (1903)
*"The Relentless City" (1903)
*"The Valkyries" (1903)
*"The Challoners" (1904)
*"The Angel of Pain" (1905)
*"The Image in the Sand" (1905)
*"The House of Defence" (1906)
*"Paul" (1906)
*"Sheaves" (1907)
*"The Blotting Book" (1908)
*"The Climber" (1908)
*"A Reaping" (1909)
*"Daisy's Aunt" (1910)
*"The Osbornes" (1910)
*"Account Rendered" (1911)
*"Juggernaut" (1911)
*"Mrs. Ames" (1912)
*"Dodo's Daughter" (1913)
*"Thorley Wier" (1913)
*"The Weaker Vessel" (1913)
*"Arundel" (1914)
*"Dodo the Second" (1914)
*"The Oakleyites" (1915)
*"Mike" (also published as "Michael") (1916)
*"David Blaiz"e (1916)
*"The Freaks of Mayfair" (1916)
*"An Autumn Sowing" (1917)
*"Mr. Teddy" (1917)
*"David Blaize and the Blue Door" (1918)
*"Up and Down" (1918)
*"Across the Stream" (1919)
*"Robin Linnet" (1919)
*"Dodo Wonders" (1921)
*"Lovers and Friends" (1921)
*"Peter" (1922)
*"And the Dead Spake--" and The Horror Horn" (1922)
*"Colin: A Novel" (1923)
*"David of King's" (1924)
*"Alan" (1924)
*"Expiation" (1924)
*"Visible and Invisible" (1924)
*"Colin II" (1925)
*"Rex" (1925)
*"A Tale of an Empty House" (1925)
*"Mezzanine" (1926)
*"Pharisees and Publicans" (1926)
*"Paying Guests" (1929)
*"The Inheritor" (1930)
*"Secret Lives" (1932)
*"Travail of Gold" (1933)
*"Raven's Brood" (1934)hort Stories
*"Caterpillars" (1912)
*"The Room in the Tower " (1912)
*"The Countess of Lowndes Square, and Other Stories" (1920)
*"Spook Stories" (1928)
*"The Male Impersonator" (1929)
*"More Spook Stories" (1934)
*"The Confession of Charles Linkworth"ee also
*
List of horror fiction authors External links
* [http://www.efbenson.co.uk/ E.F. Benson website]
*gutenberg author|id=E._F._Benson|name=E. F. Benson
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#bensonef Works by E F Benson] at [http://gutenberg.net.au Project Gutenberg of Australia]
* [http://www.friendsoftilling.com/ The Friends of Tilling]
* [http://www.londontown.com/LondonStreets/brompton_square_4c2.html Brompton Square map]
* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-lambhouse/ National Trust: Lamb House]
* [http://www.horrormasters.com/Themes/Benson.htm E.F. Benson Stories]
* [http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/nf/shared/WebDisplay/0,,213732_1_0,00.html Article on Mapp and Lucia] byPhilip Hensher
* [http://www.efbensonsociety.org E.F Benson Society]References
*cite book | last=Bleiler | first=Everett | authorlink=Everett F. Bleiler | title=The Checklist of Fantastic Literature | location=Chicago | publisher=Shasta Publishers | pages=47-48 | year=1948
*cite book | last=Vicinus | first=M. | authorlink= | title=Intimate Friends: women who loved women (1778-1928) | location=Chicago | publisher=University of Chicago Press | pages= | year=2004 | isbn=0-226-85563-5
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