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'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
Product Description
A newly reissued edition of Agatha Christie’s ‘Mary Westmacott’ novel, a Crime of the Heart novel about a loyal wife’s discovery of her husband’s infidelity.
'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…
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have been a lifelong reader of Agathe Christie's detective stories; recently I decided to try her "straight" novels. Their main interest lies in the psychology of the protagonists; and it is fascinating to read a detailed psychological profile of certain types that have often been encountered in Christie's detective fiction. They are romances, but in a rather unusual way, as each book (of the four I have read so far) deals with a case of love, not always romantic, but either slightly perverted or inadequate.
The central character of this story is a person (usually female) who has appeared several times in the author's detective stories, almost always in the role of the victim: the complete egoist. She is not consciously selfish or intentionally cruel, but so completely self centered, that all her thoughts, actions and feelings refuse to allow any other point of view than her own. She lives in a world where she is the center of the universe and other people are as two-dimensional and no more real than fictional characters. Usually, she goes though life oblivious of other people's nature and feelings, causing harm to them, because she loves herself too much and them not enough to make the effort of seeing them as they really are. In this book, she suffers an epiphany and comes face to face with her true self as well as the reality of her life; the resolution is somewhat surprising, but when it happens it feels inevitable.
The only reservation I have, in this as in other books by Westmacott, is the religious element. There is a "St.Paul on the way to Damascus"-type revelation that might jar readers' religious feelings, but it can be easily overcome, as it is neither an attempt to convert or offensive in any way.
The central character of this story is a person (usually female) who has appeared several times in the author's detective stories, almost always in the role of the victim: the complete egoist. She is not consciously selfish or intentionally cruel, but so completely self centered, that all her thoughts, actions and feelings refuse to allow any other point of view than her own. She lives in a world where she is the center of the universe and other people are as two-dimensional and no more real than fictional characters. Usually, she goes though life oblivious of other people's nature and feelings, causing harm to them, because she loves herself too much and them not enough to make the effort of seeing them as they really are. In this book, she suffers an epiphany and comes face to face with her true self as well as the reality of her life; the resolution is somewhat surprising, but when it happens it feels inevitable.
The only reservation I have, in this as in other books by Westmacott, is the religious element. There is a "St.Paul on the way to Damascus"-type revelation that might jar readers' religious feelings, but it can be easily overcome, as it is neither an attempt to convert or offensive in any way.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Though it is a mystery without a murder. The central character is marooned in a guesthouse waiting for a train somewhere in the Middle East (something Christie experienced more than once). She runs out of reading material. There is nowhere to go but the desert. She is thrown back on herself and forced to reflect on her life. Bit by bit she begins to suspect that her life as a contented wife and mother in a peaceful country town where nothing ever happens is not as rosy as she thinks. And what's the real truth behind her daughter's marriage? Will she return home a different woman, changed by the insights sent her by the bareness of the desert? Read the book to find out.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you think Agatha's mystery novels are superb, wait till you read this one. This is the engaging tale of a middle-aged woman who is forced to sit with herself only, and think about herself and what her life is all about. It will make you think of your life at the same time, and what it means and how you treat the people you care about the most. I have enjoyed it tremendously and know you will also if you read it.
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