Queen Lucia

Queen Lucia E. F. Benson - Mrs. Lucas, Lucia to her intimates, resides in the village of Riseholme, a pretty Elizabethan village in Worcestershire, where she vigorously guards her status as "Queen" despite occasional attempts from her subjects to overthrow her. Lucias dear friend Georgie Pillson both worships Lucia and occasionally works to subvert her power. Everyone must visit Riseholme. It's the most precious English village that you ever could see. Delightful! Decadent! Devious! Demented! Delicious. Riseholme is ruled by its very own doyenne of style and taste and class, one Emmeline Lucia Lucas. She utterly commands the village, an ever-benevolent dictator over all things that truly matter. Her right-hand "man" is Georgie, a bachelor of means and of a certain age, a faithful lieutenant whose extensive time spent in Lucia's home creates absolutely no tension whatsoever with Lucia's husband. Precious Georgie! With his embroidery and his watercolors and his lovely color-coordinated outfits and his cape - yes darlings, his cape! - and of course his monthly battles with hair-loss and graying. Fortunately he engages the services of hair dye and the comb-over, but shhh! We shall not speak of such things! Let us instead speak of more important matters, in quaint baby-talk or made-up "Italian" - much as Georgie and Lucia and her husband Peppino often converse!