Miss Mapp

With razorsharp wit and impeccable social observation this novel presents the delightfully manipulative Miss Mapp queen of gossip and petty feuds in the fictional town of Tilling. As she presides over her neighbors' affairs with barely concealed malice and passiveaggressive charm Miss Mapp engages in subtle battles of social supremacy involving garden parties dress color choices and the correct way to store groceries. Benson's satirical portrait of smalltown society is both hilarious and biting a masterclass in English comedy of manners. Through Mapp's obsessive eavesdropping scheming and delicate power plays the novel captures the absurdity of class pretensions and the comic tensions of genteel rivalry. Readers of Downton Abbey Jane Austen or Mapp and Lucia will find this a richly entertaining gem of social satire.