Mona of the Manor – by Armistead Maupin – independent book review – Fiction

One of the most enjoyable and memorable reading experiences I’ve EVER had began back in the late 1980s when I first discovered Armistead Maupin’s series, TALES OF THE CITY.* At the time, he had written five or six books in the series and I must have gone through ALL of them in little more than two weeks. Periodically, over the following years, Maupin has dropped another novel and each time, I’ve rushed to the library to join the waiting list. The newest one, MONA OF THE MANOR (2024), is the tenth novel in the TALES series. Awarded four stars on Goodreads.

*NOTE: A 2019 miniseries, based on these novels, is available for streaming on Netflix. But no surprise, the books are better.

The books began as newspaper columns Maupin wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle, following a group of fictional 20-somethings as they establish adult lives in that city in the 1970s. Many of the characters identify as LGBTQIA, making Maupin one the first writers to normalize gender identify and sexual preference stories to a wide public audience.

The novels follow these same individuals over the years — as they age, build relationships, fall in love, confront an AIDS epidemic, marry, etc. The characters Maupin creates are rich, distinctive, flawed, fallible, and loving. Also, completely believable. And there’s enormous warmth, humanity, and humor in his writing. 

With that as background, you will understand that as each new book in the series came along, reading it gave me another chance to reconnect with old friends and catch up on their changing lives — just as mine was changing, sometimes in a parallel way. Some of these characters I have now loved for decades. And if there are any more books in the future, I will continue to follow these lives that have been part of my own for so long.

MONA OF THE MANOR centers on Mona Ramsey, now the widow of Lord Teddy Roughton, who is struggling to hold onto the beautiful but dilapidated Roughton country estate in the picturesque Cotswolds region of England. By opening her home as a B&B and treating travelers as family — she is just barely managing to stay ahead of expenses. When an American couple, the Blaylocks, arrive for a three-day stay — Mona, her adopted son Wilfred, and family dog play the perfect hosts. But almost immediately, the hosts get drawn into drama when Mrs. Blaylock reveals a secret about her marriage. And the plot takes off toward a suspenseful conclusion.

While this was not one of my favorite books in the series, it was nevertheless delightful to see what Mona was up to. And (if you’re familiar with the original Maupin group) to visit with Michael Tolliver and Anna Madrigal.

I cannot recommend the entire series highly enough. But please, for maximum enjoyment, read them in order:

1. Tales of the City (1978)
2. More Tales of the City (1980)
3. Further Tales of the City (1982)
4. Babycakes (1984)
5. Significant Others (1987)
6. Sure of You (1989)
7. Michael Tolliver Lives (2007)
8. Mary Ann in Autumn (2010)
9. The Days of Anna Madrigal (2014)
10. Mona of the Manor (2024)

More about Armistead Maupin. 

You may be interested in my reviews of two of the books in this series:

MARY ANN IN AUTUMN

THE DAYS OF ANNA MADRIGAL