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verosnotebook 's review for:
Absent in the Spring
by Mary Westmacott, Agatha Christie
Most people have heard of Agatha Christie and her murder mysteries. However, the six novels she penned under the name of Mary Westmacott are relatively unknown.
Unlike her other works, this story does not feature a crime. Instead it focuses on a middle-aged woman stuck in an isolated rest house in the desert for days, waiting for a train to take her back to civilisation. With nothing to do, Joan Scudamore ends up assessing her life and facing some unpalatable truths. Sounds less than thrilling, and yet... Christie writes in such a manner that even an unlikeable main character is rendered fascinating. The reader is enticed to gather all the clues of this life, especially the details in between the lines, to put together the picture of this woman and her influence, like an investigation. Not only this, there is a feeling of urgency growing through the pages - what will happen?
Absent in the Spring was Christie’s most satisfying work - “...the book that I had always wanted to write, that had been clear in my mind. It was the picture of a woman with a complete image of herself, of what she was, but about which she was completely mistaken” - and she does this masterfully, offering us a dramatic and intriguing psychological study.
One can’t help wondering if Agatha felt something similar when her fist husband left her, turning her life upside down. Everyone wonders where the author disappeared for those 11 days, but did she do just that - find herself an isolated spot and analyse her life, especially the signs pertaining to her husband that she had refused to see... Whichever way, this novel is brilliant, disturbing, and entertaining.
Unlike her other works, this story does not feature a crime. Instead it focuses on a middle-aged woman stuck in an isolated rest house in the desert for days, waiting for a train to take her back to civilisation. With nothing to do, Joan Scudamore ends up assessing her life and facing some unpalatable truths. Sounds less than thrilling, and yet... Christie writes in such a manner that even an unlikeable main character is rendered fascinating. The reader is enticed to gather all the clues of this life, especially the details in between the lines, to put together the picture of this woman and her influence, like an investigation. Not only this, there is a feeling of urgency growing through the pages - what will happen?
Absent in the Spring was Christie’s most satisfying work - “...the book that I had always wanted to write, that had been clear in my mind. It was the picture of a woman with a complete image of herself, of what she was, but about which she was completely mistaken” - and she does this masterfully, offering us a dramatic and intriguing psychological study.
One can’t help wondering if Agatha felt something similar when her fist husband left her, turning her life upside down. Everyone wonders where the author disappeared for those 11 days, but did she do just that - find herself an isolated spot and analyse her life, especially the signs pertaining to her husband that she had refused to see... Whichever way, this novel is brilliant, disturbing, and entertaining.