Lucia's Progress

With Lucia's fiftieth birthday looming, she takes stock of her life's achievements - and finds them lacking. Determined to take up a new pursuit, she dismisses flying across the Atlantic, writing a genius novel, or swimming the Channel. Then, not only does her eye alight on the obituary of a spinster who made a fortune on the Stock Exchange, but the notion of standing for the Town Council occurs to her. . . As Lucia gambles with shares and dives into the world of electioneering, her rival Miss Mapp - now Mrs Mapp-Flint, having finally ensnared her Major - remains dedicated to thwarting her ambitions. . .