Armistead Maupin has a new book on the way, and it’s another instalment of his long running Tales of the City series.
The new book, the tenth in the series, is titled Mona of the Manor and focuses on the adventures of Mona Ramsey long after she moved out of 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco.
Set in the early 1990s we find Mona, now the widowed Lady of a glorious old manor in Britain’s golden Cotswolds, and her fabulous, adopted son Wilfred, as they come to the aid of an American visitor with a troubling secret.
When Mona Ramsey married Lord Teddy Roughton to secure his visa—allowing him to remain in San Francisco to fulfill his wildest dreams—she never imagined she would, by age 48, be the sole owner of Easley House, Teddy’s grand, romantic country manor in the UK.
She also didn’t imagine that she’d need to open the manor’s doors to paying guests to afford the electric bill and repair the leaking roof. Yet somehow she and her young friend Wilfred–whom guests assume is serving as Easley’s charming-but-clumsy butler–and the loopy old gardener Mr. Hargis, are making it work.
This delicate equilibrium is upended when Americans Rhonda and Ernie Blaylock arrive for a weekend vacation at Easley, and Wilfred stumbles onto their terrible secret. Now, instead of being able to focus on the imminent arrival of her old friend Michael Tolliver and beloved parent Anna Madrigal, Mona will need to focus all of her considerable charm, willpower, and wiles—and the help of Wilfred and Mona’s girlfriend Poppy, the town’s postmistress and local calligraphy whiz—to set things right before the Midsummer ceremony when the whole town will descend on Easley’s historic grounds.
First published as a column in the San Francisco Chronicle. The series encompasses nine hugely popular novels: Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn and The Days of Anna Madrigal.
The story begins with an off assortment of residents of Barnaby Lane and the subsequent books follow different characters throughout their lives.
The books were turned into a TV series starring actress Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis. Since 1993 four series have been created, the most recent debuting on Netflix in 2019.
Maupin chatted to OUTinPerth back in 2007 and spoke about how the characters in his books all have little parts of his own personality.
The new book will be released in March 2024.
OIP Staff
You can support our work by subscribing to our Patreon
or contributing to our GoFundMe campaign.
