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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Whew. A brutal little trip.
I have now finished reading all of Agatha Christie’s Mary Westmacott books, and I find them very challenging to sum up. Do they make me uncomfortable psychologically? Yes. Are they so readable that I can finish one in a day? Also Yes.
I think the reason they’re so effective is that Agatha doesn’t abandon her mystery-writing skills even in a book that centers on relationships. It’s almost like she’s creating a murder mystery where the victim is… The Human Psyche.
It’s a concept that makes me shudder, but these are every bit as gripping to read as her detective novels (or even more so?). I don’t enjoy what’s happening on the page but I am mesmerized by the craft of it.
I have now finished reading all of Agatha Christie’s Mary Westmacott books, and I find them very challenging to sum up. Do they make me uncomfortable psychologically? Yes. Are they so readable that I can finish one in a day? Also Yes.
I think the reason they’re so effective is that Agatha doesn’t abandon her mystery-writing skills even in a book that centers on relationships. It’s almost like she’s creating a murder mystery where the victim is… The Human Psyche.
It’s a concept that makes me shudder, but these are every bit as gripping to read as her detective novels (or even more so?). I don’t enjoy what’s happening on the page but I am mesmerized by the craft of it.
Proof that Agatha Christie can write a good story with no murder in it. A story about a codependent mother-daughter pair and how they navigate their relationship.
A temática é bem interessante (relacionamento complexo entre mãe e filha), mas não achei nada demais.
Another terrific Mary Westmacott novel, this one about the troubled relationship between a mother and a daughter.
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a beautiful book and what a beautiful ending. Such a great relationship between mother and daughter and how it matures through time. A little tense at times but totally recommended. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna call my mom...
This 1952 title is a decent character study, but a thoroughly unpleasant and exasperating read about a toxically codependent parental relationship. The fifth of six novels that author Agatha Christie published under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott -- at this point merely an affectation, after the British press had disclosed the writer's true identity in 1949 -- it presents a middle-aged widow and her teenage daughter, each of whom can't help but hypocritically meddle in the other one's romantic affairs. (Somewhat awkwardly, Christie reportedly based the younger woman on her own child, who later refused to grant rights for any theatre in her lifetime to ever put on the authorized stage adaptation.)
If I had to pick sides in this squalid Gilmore Girls melodrama, I suppose I'd say that the nineteen-year-old is generally the more reasonable of the pair. Although children shouldn't really have a say in who their parents date / marry, it's pretty absurd that the mother meets a stranger, falls in love, gets engaged, and sets a wedding date for the following month all while the girl is off on a skiing trip with her friends. The most powerful part of the story is the tense household struggle that develops between these two and the new fiancé upon her return, but I've found the lengthy fallout after that crisis inevitably comes to a head to be less interesting and mostly just sad.
[Content warning for drug abuse.]
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If I had to pick sides in this squalid Gilmore Girls melodrama, I suppose I'd say that the nineteen-year-old is generally the more reasonable of the pair. Although children shouldn't really have a say in who their parents date / marry, it's pretty absurd that the mother meets a stranger, falls in love, gets engaged, and sets a wedding date for the following month all while the girl is off on a skiing trip with her friends. The most powerful part of the story is the tense household struggle that develops between these two and the new fiancé upon her return, but I've found the lengthy fallout after that crisis inevitably comes to a head to be less interesting and mostly just sad.
[Content warning for drug abuse.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
Uh, melodrama!
Sara je razmažena ćerka, a En je popustljiva majka. Upropastiće život jedna drugoj, da bi se na kraju u pravom holivudskom maniru u poslednjem času pozdravile na aerodromu.
Ovo mi je baš bilo nikakvo, ali se neverovatno brzo čita pa ću pokloniti trojku, darežljiva sam.
Moja top lista Meri Vestmakot romana do sada:
1. The Burden
2. Absent in the Spring
3. A Daughter's a Daughter
Sara je razmažena ćerka, a En je popustljiva majka. Upropastiće život jedna drugoj, da bi se na kraju u pravom holivudskom maniru u poslednjem času pozdravile na aerodromu.
Ovo mi je baš bilo nikakvo, ali se neverovatno brzo čita pa ću pokloniti trojku, darežljiva sam.
Moja top lista Meri Vestmakot romana do sada:
1. The Burden
2. Absent in the Spring
3. A Daughter's a Daughter
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes