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A review by readsewknit
Absent in the Spring by Mary Westmacott
5.0
When I was younger, I devoured Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie mysteries, and at some point, I learned of ABSENT IN THE SPRING, a book written by Agatha Christie under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. It's my favorite title of Christie's by far (and often lands in my top few titles of all time).
This is not a mystery and I find it on a different plane of writing skill. Much of this book is a solitary exercise into the mind and the past, as our flawed protagonist Joan Scudamore finds herself stranded at a rest house near a train station where there is little for entertainment and the servants who are there have minimal English. She is returning home after spending time with one of her daughters, and while she awaits the train, she is reflecting on her husband, her marriage, and her daughters.
To have a flawed narrator who is steadily communicating insights to the reader while remaining oblivious for so long takes a deft hand; this is a heartbreaking read, and I get so caught up in what was and what could have been. It's just brilliant.
This is not a mystery and I find it on a different plane of writing skill. Much of this book is a solitary exercise into the mind and the past, as our flawed protagonist Joan Scudamore finds herself stranded at a rest house near a train station where there is little for entertainment and the servants who are there have minimal English. She is returning home after spending time with one of her daughters, and while she awaits the train, she is reflecting on her husband, her marriage, and her daughters.
To have a flawed narrator who is steadily communicating insights to the reader while remaining oblivious for so long takes a deft hand; this is a heartbreaking read, and I get so caught up in what was and what could have been. It's just brilliant.