Absent in the Spring: A Novel [J0265]

2025 - PB Reprint of the 1944 original. Nice clean condition. A captivating novel of self-discovery by Agatha Christie, written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Agatha Christie, famous for her ingenious crime novels, also wrote about crimes of the heart. Written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, Christie's tales of romantic suspense further explore the human psychology she was so intrigued by, freed from the expectations of her mystery fans. In one of six novels written under this nom de plume, Absent in the Spring tells the story of Joan Scudmore who, returning from a visit to her daughter in Iraq, 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 difficult 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...

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Written in 1944 and set just before World War II begins, it is the type of book that could only be written in that era and ring true."; "This book should be considered a modern day classic. The psychological exploration in this book was very much ahead of its time and the overall themes of this book still ring true to this day. Agatha Christie is an expert at peeling back the layers and exploring the depths of the human psyche. This is definitely one of those novels that I will be thinking about for some time."; "I have never previously read a Mary Westmacott book. An interesting psychological journey into the mind of a middle class, 1950s provincial housewife."