‘A study of a shy, emotional nature, verging on the pathological … worth reading.’
New York Times
ISBN 978–0–00–649946–6
Absent in the Spring
A MARY WESTMACOTT NOVEL
Agatha Christie
‘The one book that has satisfied me completely – the book I always wanted to write.’
Agatha Christie
Returning from a visit to her daughter in Iraq, Joan Scudamore finds herself unexpectedly alone and stranded in an isolated rest house by flooding of the railway tracks. This sudden solitude compels Joan to assess her life for the first time ever and face up to many of the truths about herself. Looking back over the years, Joan painfully re-examines her attitudes, relationships and actions and becomes increasingly uneasy about the person who is revealed to her …
‘I’ve not been so emotionally moved by a story since the memorable Brief Encounter … Absent in the Spring is a tour de force which should be recognized as a classic.’ New York Times
‘Very readable indeed.’
Times Literary Supplement
ISBN 978–0–00–649947–3
The Rose and the Yew Tree
A MARY WESTMACOTT NOVEL
Agatha Christie
‘Quiet and intelligent, with class distinctions which motivate its characters.’
Books
Everyone expected Isabella Charteris, beautiful, sheltered and aristocratic, to marry her cousin Rupert when he came back from the War. It would have been such a suitable marriage. How strange then that John Gabriel, an ambitious and ruthless war hero, should appear in her life. For Isabella, the price of love would mean abandoning her dreams of home and happiness forever. For Gabriel, it would destroy his chance of a career and all his ambitions …
‘Miss Westmacott writes crisply and is always lucid … much material has been skilfully compressed.’
Times Literary Supplement
ISBN 978–0–00–649948–0
A Daughter’s a Daughter
A MARY WESTMACOTT NOVEL
Agatha Christie
‘These books are dramatic, and concentrate on the solution to situations which arise out of the high tensions in life.’
Max Mallowan
Ann Prentice falls in love with Richard Cauldfield and hopes for new happiness. Her only child, Sarah, cannot contemplate the idea of her mother marrying again and wrecks any chance of her remarriage. Resentment and jealousy corrode their relationship as each seeks relief in different directions. Are mother and daughter destined to be enemies for life or will their underlying love for each other finally win through?
‘Miss Westmacott shows narrative talent – I should expect her books to be very popular.’
Observer
ISBN 978–0–00–649949–7
The Burden
A MARY WESTMACOTT NOVEL
Agatha Christie
‘Sometimes you haven’t the right currency. And then someone else has to pay …’
Agatha Christie
Laura Franklin bitterly resented the arrival of her younger sister Shirley, an enchanting baby loved by all the family. But Laura’s emotions towards her sister changed dramatically one night, when she vowed to protect her with all her strength and love. While Shirley longs for freedom and romance, Laura has to learn that loving can never be a one-sided affair, and the burden of her love for her sister has a dramatic effect on both their lives. A story of consequences when love turns to obsession …
‘Very much the art of story-telling that would be at home in the woman’s magazine.’
Times Literary Supplement
ISBN 978–0–00–649950–3
Come, Tell Me How You Live
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MEMOIR
Agatha Christie
‘Perfectly delightful … colourful, lively, occasionally touching and thought-provoking.’
Books & Bookmen
Agatha Christie was already well known as a crime writer when she accompanied her husband, Max Mallowan, to Syria and Iraq in the 1930s. She took enormous interest in all his excavations, and when friends asked what her strange life was like, she decided to answer their questions in this delightful book.
First published in 1946, Come, Tell Me How You Live gives a charming picture of Agatha Christie herself, while also giving insight into some of her most popular novels, including Murder in Mesopotamia and Appointment with Death. It is, as Jacquetta Hawkes concludes in her introduction, ‘a pure pleasure to read’.
‘Good and enjoyable … she has a delightfully light touch.’
Country Life
ISBN 978–0–00–653114–2
About the Author
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written during the First World War and introduced us to Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective with the ‘Little Grey Cells’, who was destined to reappear in nearly 100 different novels or short stories over the next 50 years. Agatha also created the elderly crime-solver, Miss Marple, as well as more than 2,000 colourful characters across her 80 crime books.
Agatha Christie’s books have sold over one billion copies in the English language and another billion in more than 100 countries, making her the best-selling novelist in history. Her stories have transcended the printed page, also finding success as adaptations for stage, films, television, radio, audiobooks, comic strips and interactive games, and her many stage plays have enjoyed critical acclaim – the most famous, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. Agatha Christie was made a Dame in 1971.
It was her sharp observations of people’s ambitions, relationships and conflicts that added life and sparkle to her ingenious detective stories. When she turned this understanding of human nature away from the crime genre, writing anonymously as Mary Westmacott to prove to herself that her books could sell on merit rather than her fame alone, she created bittersweet novels, love stories with a jagged edge, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.
Also by the Author
THE MARY WESTMACOTT COLLECTION
Giant’s Bread
Unfinished Portrait
Absent in the Spring
The Rose and the Yew Tree
A Daughter’s a Daughter
The Burden
Copyright
Harper
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 1997, 2009
First published in Great Britain by Collins 1930
Copyright © Agatha Christie Mallowan 1958
www.agathachristie.com
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Source ISBN: 9780006496459
Ebook Edition © NOV 2013 ISBN: 9780007535002
Version 2013-10-11
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