“Half memoir, half travel, A Yank Back to England...is an absolutely wonderful book, not only about going home again but also about love and family and tradition and the passage of the years.”
—Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic (Washington
Post)
To see the entire quote, click here.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Hunting for Mallards'

A notable writer who set his novels in Rye was E.F. Benson. He lived just at the top of Mermaid Street, in Lamb House, renamed Mallards in his Mapp and Lucia novels. Here, Queen Lucia held reign. The streets and settings were all unchanged by time, just as Benson described them. I counted houses to where Georgie Pillson would have lived before he became – in name only – Lucia’s husband. I picked out the places where my favorite characters had done their marketing. The street corners where they sniped and spied and gently but cruelly admonished one another, scoring points where they could, forming alliances and fighting social battles much to the delight of generations of fans.

6 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

Mermaid Street and Lamb House? It all sounds so very lovely.

Carol Murdock said...

How enchanting to walk among your favorites book characters old haunts!! I'm envious for sure!

~ Carol ~

The Prodigal Tourist said...

Yes, it was very special. Rye is really beautiful, we enjoyed it very much.

Ian said...

Your blog is beautifully clear. I will probably take your advice and revert to the white background.

Cheryl said...

How fun! I've always wanted to do that, but in my case Bath, Lyme Regis or London for Dickens and Jane Austen. And maybe the Thames for Jerome K. Jerome.

The Prodigal Tourist said...

Cheryl--you must! It was so much fun. Although I was lucky, because Rye looks pretty much as it did 60s years ago. Weren't so lucky when we went to Dymchurch in search of Dr. Syn (aka, The Scarecrow).