Mona of the Manor

Hallelujah! Tales of the City fans rejoice! This month sees the release of Armistead Maupin’s 10th book in the groundbreaking series that follows the lives of the residents of 28 Barbary Lane. For those of us who have aged along with this series, a new instalment is always a joy.

Mona of the Manor is set some two decades after the events of the first book. Lady Mona Roughton (once Mona Ramsey) is a long way from San Francisco and residing at Easley House, a rambling manor in the Cotswold district that she inherited after the death of her gay husband, Lord Teddy. She and her 26-year-old adopted son Wilfred have monetised the house, running it as a B&B.

When American guests Rhonda and her cantankerous husband, Ernie, arrive one wet afternoon, Wilfred witnesses a scene between the couple that Mona feels compelled to act upon.

Meanwhile, having lost so many friends to AIDS, Mona is concerned for her gay son on his jaunts to London in search of love. She’s also feeling pangs of guilt for being so geographically distant from her ageing parent and one-time landlady Anna Madrigal at a time when she should be assisting her. Maybe one of these days her old pal Micheal Tolliver will come and visit with Anna in tow?

This is classic Maupin, big-hearted and charming. As with other books in the series, a mystery of sorts threads its way through the narrative, secrets are revealed and there are nods to previous characters. It may be a cliché but we, the readers, are left feeling as though we are being enveloped by an enormous hug from an old friend.

This can be read as a stand-alone, although readers will benefit from having read others in the series, and what better time to purchase the previous nine books! In celebration of the release of Mona of the Manor, Penguin Random House have reissued the complete backlist with beautiful matching cover designs. I may repurchase the whole set.