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A review by srivalli
Absent In The Spring by Mary Westmacott, Agatha Christie
5.0
Joan Scudamore is on her way back to London after visiting her daughter in Iraq. The heavy rains wash away the railway lines, leaving her stranded in an isolated rest house (pretty much in the middle of nowhere). Of course, the rest house is managed decently well, and Joan doesn’t have to worry about her safety or food.
However, she has too much time on her hands. A woman used to being busy at all times finds herself doing nothing. Her meeting with Blanche, her childhood friend, before being stranded puts her in a contemplative mood. As Joan thinks back about her seemingly perfect life with a happy and successful husband and lovely kids, she realizes that the truth is different from her perception.
Joan doesn’t want to accept this new view of her life, but she can’t help it. The more her unease grows, the more she realizes that her idea of perfect might have done more harm than good. Was Joan a competent and wise woman with a good head on her shoulders, or was she someone people endured for the sake of it?
As a diehard fan of Christie, I extend the same love to the books she wrote as Mary Westmacott. These are more personal, introspective, and heavy with melancholy. Absent in the Spring is hard to categorize into a particular genre. Those who put it in romance couldn’t have been more wrong. Drama comes closest, I suppose.
The first 30-40 pages are enough to give us an idea about the theme. We know the direction the story will take. We even know what it’ll do to the lead character, Joan. But we still want to see if our assessment is right or not.
To be honest, I’m not sure how to review this one. It’s bittersweet; frustrating at times because you cannot help but want to shake some sense into Joan. Annoying at times when Joan does nothing but delay her introspection. Yet, it is compelling because you can’t help but continue reading to see if she’ll notice and realize what you did.
You can’t wait for the ending because you hope for a positive beginning but know deep down that it may not happen. Oh, you’ll come to hate Joan, pity her, and even hope for her. But can you love her?
To sum up, Absent in the Spring is a must-read if you like analyzing characters and people. It is a must-read if you want to go introspect on your life and look at it from another perspective. The book has given me greater satisfaction than some of her mystery novels (and I’m saying this as a fan of the author and a mystery lover).
*****
P.S: A reviewer mentioned Christie called this book her most satisfying work, and I can see why.
*****
PPS: I read the paperback and can say that it did make a difference to my reading experience.
However, she has too much time on her hands. A woman used to being busy at all times finds herself doing nothing. Her meeting with Blanche, her childhood friend, before being stranded puts her in a contemplative mood. As Joan thinks back about her seemingly perfect life with a happy and successful husband and lovely kids, she realizes that the truth is different from her perception.
Joan doesn’t want to accept this new view of her life, but she can’t help it. The more her unease grows, the more she realizes that her idea of perfect might have done more harm than good. Was Joan a competent and wise woman with a good head on her shoulders, or was she someone people endured for the sake of it?
As a diehard fan of Christie, I extend the same love to the books she wrote as Mary Westmacott. These are more personal, introspective, and heavy with melancholy. Absent in the Spring is hard to categorize into a particular genre. Those who put it in romance couldn’t have been more wrong. Drama comes closest, I suppose.
The first 30-40 pages are enough to give us an idea about the theme. We know the direction the story will take. We even know what it’ll do to the lead character, Joan. But we still want to see if our assessment is right or not.
To be honest, I’m not sure how to review this one. It’s bittersweet; frustrating at times because you cannot help but want to shake some sense into Joan. Annoying at times when Joan does nothing but delay her introspection. Yet, it is compelling because you can’t help but continue reading to see if she’ll notice and realize what you did.
You can’t wait for the ending because you hope for a positive beginning but know deep down that it may not happen. Oh, you’ll come to hate Joan, pity her, and even hope for her. But can you love her?
“You are alone and you will always be. But, please God, you’ll never know it.”
To sum up, Absent in the Spring is a must-read if you like analyzing characters and people. It is a must-read if you want to go introspect on your life and look at it from another perspective. The book has given me greater satisfaction than some of her mystery novels (and I’m saying this as a fan of the author and a mystery lover).
*****
P.S: A reviewer mentioned Christie called this book her most satisfying work, and I can see why.
*****
PPS: I read the paperback and can say that it did make a difference to my reading experience.