Unfinished Portrait: A Moving Women's Fiction Novel About Overcoming Grief and Facing the Future

by Mary Westmacott (Pseudonym), Agatha Christie

A newly reissued edition of Agatha Christie’s ‘Mary Westmacott’ novel, a Crime of the Heart novel about a woman on the verge of suicide.

'In Celia we have more nearly than anywhere else a portrait of Agatha.' Max Mallowan

Bereft of the three people she has held most dear - her mother, her husband and her daughter - Celia is on the verge of suicide. Then one night on an exotic island she meets Larraby, a successful portrait painter, and through a long night of talk reveals how she is afraid to commit herself to a second chance of happiness with another person, yet is not brave enough to face life alone. Can Larraby help Celia come to terms with the past or will they part, her outcome still uncertain?

Genres: Agatha Christie, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Classics, British Literature, Audiobook

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1934

About the author

Pseudonym used by Agatha Christie to write her dramatic novels about relationships.

Associated Names:
Мэри Вестмакотт (Russian)
Мері Вестмакотт (Ukrainian)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Celia we have more nearly than anywhere else a portrait of Agatha.
- Max Mallowan



This is the best of the Agatha Christie as Mary Westmacott books for me.
Mainly because this is the story that she based on herself. A very fictionalized version of her life, but probably the closest thing we will ever get to it. And fair. I certainly wouldn't want my life splayed out there for the whole world to see. But I would also imagine this was a cathartic book for her to write.



The skinny gist is that Celia (though the narrator says he only calls her this as he doesn't know her real name) has recounted her life story to a stranger who basically stopped her from tossing herself off a cliff. Now, when you look at all the incredible details about her childhood, her romance, life as a wife and mother, the eventual end of her marriage, etc., the idea that she told all of this to a stranger in ONE evening seems crazypants.
As a straight up story, this does not work.




However.
For fans of Christie, and I am a rabid fan, this is just an incredible insight into a very private woman's life experiences and feelings. Celia is a stand-in for Agatha, trying to figure out how to push past the pain of her first husband leaving her for another woman, coming directly on the heels of her beloved mother's death, then learning how to rebuild her life.



And while Celia's story ends ambiguously, we know that Agatha did eventually trust herself enough to open up to a new love in her second husband, Max Mallowan.



Highly Recommended for fans of Agatha Christie.

[Nisha-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god. What an amazing novel.

It's so clearly autobiographical if you know the basic facts of Christie's life and that's why it's so fascinating in this way that horrifies you with its ruthless psychological detail but also imbues you with a sort of ... responsibility, a commitment to see it through because this is, as her second husband says on the back of my book, "nearly than anywhere else a portrait of Agatha."

So because you're so wrapped up in the awful intimacy and inescapable authenticity of the story, the way Christie suddenly pulls back and twists the end in pure literary triumph ... just totally thumped me in the chest with awe. Holy mother of brilliant writing, omg.

I had a feeling at the start of the novel that this story was going to break my heart. I knew it would make me very sad in that piercing way Christie has. But I totally did not expect the joyful sense of resolution I feel now.

Oh man. What a legend Christie is. To take her life and make a small careful literary triumph out of it. Perfectly unassuming and all the more precious for it. And that title! All the better when you know what Christie did find after.

*sighs happily*

[Vanitha Narayan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a totally different side of Agatha Christie and I am glad I did. Very beautifully written.

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an Agatha Christie fan, I’ve been meaning to read the six non-crime novels she wrote under the name of Mary Westmacott. This is my second one.

Unfinished Portrait is very much Christie’s life, vaguely disguised. Having read her autobiography, you can totally see the similarities. It is a heart-breaking tale, especially when you realise you’re seeing into her heart and soul. Even without this aspect, it is a worthy read, the study of a life.

Personally, I preferred Absent In The Spring, another character study, but that one completely bowled me over. This is more than likely because I had no inkling where Agatha was going with that one, while here, I knew what was going to happen. Still, I’m happy I read it.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I'll be rushing to read another Mary Westmacott any time soon.

Unfinished Portrait is based very obviously on Agatha Christie's real life - her father's early death leaving her mother struggling for cash, her bad first marriage, her own difficulties in finding a place for herself in the world. It's all there but having read Lucy Worsley's superb biography of Ms Christie this book really held nothing new.

In the end I was irritated by the fictional Celia's utter hopelessness and inability to read people. I figure that a lot of women made marriages that were deeply unsatisfactory for one reason or another simply so that they had some form of security that a single life did not offer back at the beginning of the 20th century.

Unfinished Portrait gives quite a bleak view of a young woman's life and I suppose it us heartening to know that Agatha herself was far more dynamic and confidant in her writing abilities than Celia is.

Either way not a book I'd have picked up had it not been part of the Read Christie 2023 Challenge so onwards to the next book.

[Vikas Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second romantic novel Christie wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. It gives a very vivid description of the life and times of Agatha Christie, the then prevalent customs and society’s view towards women in particular. It is a story of Celia though Christie’s husband Max Mallowan says in the jacket-“In Celia we have more nearly anywhere else a portrait of Agatha”. Seen through these lens, the novel becomes an interesting read because the reader gets an insight into Christie’s own fears and view of life. Good read.

[Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictionalized Biography
A review of the William Morrow Paperback eBook (May 20, 2025) of the Collins (UK March 1934) and Doubleday (US later in 1934) original hardcovers.

"In Celia we have more nearly than anywhere else a portrait of Agatha." - Max Mallowan, Agatha Christie's 2nd husband, commenting on the lead character in "Unfinished Portrait."

Unfinished Portrait is the 2nd of the 6 books published under Agatha Christie's Mary Westmacott pseudonym at a time when that identity was still a secret. This was in order to have the books earn their own audience without any of the expectations of her crime and mystery reading fan base.

We have the reasonably authoritative commentary from both Christie's 2nd husband Max Mallowan (see above) and her daughter Rosalind Hinks (see under the Trivia link below) that the novel is a fictionalized story of her early life and her 1st marriage (1914) and divorce (1928) with Archie Christie. Agatha's own mysterious disappearance in 1926 may have been related to her discovery of Archie's infidelity and her own possible thoughts of suicide.

Various events in the novel have obvious parallels to Christie's own life. The fictional Celia grows up to be a novelist (although not a mystery writer), has one daughter from her first marriage, attempts suicide / disappears. In the fictional version, Celia comes back from the brink due to finding a confidante to whom she tells her life story. The novel is presented as if the confidante, otherwise a portrait painter, had written and sent the manuscript to Mary Westmacott.

I have yet to read Christie's official autobiography but it will be interesting to learn there what she might have to say about this fictional version.

The first 1/3rd of the book was about the young Celia in her growing years and had some delightful humour in the child's world of make believe and her wide-eyed naivety in asking questions. I especially enjoyed this section:

Celia had gone into the kitchen and had asked Sarah what she was cooking.
‘Giblet soup, Miss Celia.’
‘What are giblets, Sarah?’
Sarah pursed her mouth. ‘Things that it’s not nice for a little lady to make inquiries about.’
‘But what are they?’ Celia’s curiosity was pleasantly aroused.
‘Now, that’s enough, Miss Celia. It’s not for a little lady like you to ask questions about such things.’
[then a few pages later...]
‘Giving herself such airs,’ Celia heard old Sarah mutter. ‘And her nothing but a come-by-chance with a father she doesn’t even know the name of.’
‘What’s a come-by-chance, Sarah?’
Sarah grew very red. ‘Nothing to hear about on the lips of a young lady, Miss Celia.’
‘Is it a giblet?’ asked Celia hopefully.
Kate, who was standing by, went off into peals of laughter and was wrathfully told by Sarah to hold her tongue.

The novel Unfinished Portrait counts against my Complete Agatha Christie binge read goal, so I now have 5 novels (including 2 remaining Westmacotts), 1 short story collection, 5 full-length theatrical plays, 2 short 1-Act plays and 1 autobiography left to go.

Trivia and Links
Read further background about Unfinished Portrait at the official Agatha Christie website here.

Addendum
This is a reckoning of my remaining Agatha Christie TBR novels. The novels read are stroked through and those yet to be read are counted on the right hand side of the listing. The reckoning does not include the 3 posthumous novelizations of Agatha Christie stage plays made by Australian writer Charles Osborne, although I was initially counting them as I worked through the binge.
Note: The stroke-throughs cannot be seen on all platforms (mobile phones for instance), but the number count on the right hand side of the remaining titles should be clear enough.
1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
2. The Secret Adversary
3. The Murder on the Links
4. The Man in the Brown Suit
5. The Secret of Chimneys
6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
7. The Big Four
8. The Mystery of the Blue Train
9. The Seven Dials Mystery
10. The Murder at the Vicarage
11. The Sittaford Mystery
12. Peril at End House
13. Lord Edgware Dies
14. Murder on the Orient Express
15. Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
16. Three Act Tragedy
17. Death in the Clouds
18. The A.B.C. Murders
19. Murder in Mesopotamia
20. Cards on the Table
21. Dumb Witness
22. Death on the Nile
23. Appointment with Death
24. Hercule Poirot's Christmas
25. Murder Is Easy
26. And Then There Were None
27. Sad Cypress
28. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
29. Evil Under the Sun
30. N or M?
31. The Body in the Library
32. Five Little Pigs
33. The Moving Finger
34. Towards Zero
35. Death Comes as the End
36. Sparkling Cyanide aka Death Remembered
37. The Hollow
38. Taken at the Flood
39. Crooked House
40. A Murder Is Announced
41. They Came to Baghdad
42. Mrs McGinty's Dead
43. They Do It with Mirrors
44. After the Funeral
45. A Pocket Full of Rye
46. Destination Unknown
47. Hickory Dickory Dock
48. Dead Man's Folly
49. 4.50 from Paddington
50. Ordeal by Innocence 1
51. Cat Among the Pigeons
52. The Pale Horse 2
53. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
54. The Clocks
55. A Caribbean Mystery
56. At Bertram's Hotel
57. Third Girl
58. Endless Night
59. By the Pricking of My Thumbs
60. Hallowe'en Party
61. Passenger to Frankfurt
62. Nemesis
63. Elephants Can Remember
64. Postern of Fate
65. Curtain 3
66. Sleeping Murder

As Mary Westmacott
66. Giant's Bread 4
67. Unfinished Portrait
68. Absent in the Spring
69. The Rose and the Yew Tree
70. A Daughter's a Daughter
71. The Burden 5

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agatha Christie (1890-1976), here writing under her penname Mary Westmacott, married her first husband Archibald Christie in 1914. In 1919, she had her first and only child, a daughter. Divorcing in 1928, following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926, she made international headlines by disappearing for eleven days. These are the facts that lie at the basis for this story, a semi-autobiographical work of fiction.

Reading this, I’ve had trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction. Problem number one. This sent me time and time again to search the net.

The story is told by a famed artist whom the central character, a stand-in for Agatha, meets one night on a voyage abroad. She spills out her heart and sorrows to the unknown stranger. He writes here in this story of what she has told him. She is considering suicide. She no longer has the will to live alone nor the strength to begin afresh with someone new. Her trust is gone. Will the telling of her life story release her from her sorrows? Will the telling enable her to leave behind the past? I find this setup an unnecessary gimmick. Here we have problem number two! Despite that I do believe talking about a problem helps, the artist is not a writer, and yet it is in the art of writing that we observe how he excels!

The prose is topnotch! Christie’s lines capture events, feelings and humor. All are superbly rolled together! Celia is the central character. She plays the part of Agatha. Her grannie’s ideas are antiquated, but you cannot help but laugh on listening to what spills from her lips. She has a ferocity that is invigorating. I had less trouble slipping into grannie’s shoes than Celia’s / Agatha’s! Honestly, I could scarcely relate to Agatha, she is so utterly meek, timid and opinionless. This is peculiar because in Christie’s autobiography, which I have also read and absolutely adore, the opposite is true! Is it a matter of different age perspectives? I’m not sure.

The fictional of the tale is what gives me trouble. The writing is superb. Maybe others wll not notice this, but I love how Christie plays with words, and I see humor when others seem to miss it totally. I’m giving the story three stars because I do like it. I’ve enjoyed chuckling and marveling at Christie’s ability of getting ideas into words.

The audiobook I listened to from Audible is narrated by Lewis Hancock. His narration is worthy of five stars. He captures wonderfully the nationality, sex and age of the person speaking. He’s got French down pat! I mean, his variations in voice could not be better. I seriously think it better to listen to this than to read it—the narration is that good!

Don’t get me wrong. I have definitely enjoyed this book, but this doesn’t stop my head from analyzing and figuring out what seems a little bit off kilter. I’m a terribly picky reader and don’t hand out many stars in my rating of books!

Recommended to me by my dear friend Cleo. Due to my poor vision, I have difficulty finding good books. Thank you, Cleo. (((((Cleo)))) Please continue to recommend them to me.



*********************************

I highly recommend Agatha Christie: An Autobiography. This I gave a whopping five stars! Also Come, Tell Me How You Live, which I gave four stars. She writes under her husband's name in the latter, i.e. Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Mary Westmacott novels:
*Absent in the Spring 4 stars
*Unfinished Portrait 3 stars
*Giant's Bread TBR
*A Daughter's a Daughter TBR
*The Burden TBR
*The Rose and the Yew Tree TBR

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the second book I've read by Agatha Christie writing under her pen name. It seems she used this alternate identity to write a different type of book than the mystery/thrillers that she was so famous for. Knowing a little about her own life I wonder if these "anonymous" writings reflect her own unhappiness in her first marriage (her husband was unfaithful). I understand she only used this pen name in the earlier part of her career. Overall I found the book rather gloomy and in the end I was left a little confused about the overall message she was trying to convey. The bottom line for me was that it really doesn't mean good things for a book when you are relieved to finish it!

[Hirdesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review later.

[Sherri Rabinowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a difficult story to read because I knew it was based on Agatha Christie herself, her own life and feelings. And how Archie Christie truly hurt her so deeply in the end, at the worst time he could possible do it. Also how he just seemed to be blind to anything but his own thoughts and feelings. It really tore at my heart.


There is a strange connection between "Unfinished Portrait", a Harley Quin short story called; "Man from The Sea" and "Towards Zero. " I read them one after another. They all have a suicide attempt that is stopped, in two of the stories the place for it is exactly the same and in two of the stories, the same philosophy against suicide is the same. Has anyone else pondered this? I never read it in an article or a book about Christie.

I thought it very interesting too, that she incorporated her own nightmare of the gun man, and the interesting twist she gave it. I will not add any spoilers to this review but if you want to know how Agatha Christie felt about what happened to her in 1926, this is the book to read.

[spillingthematcha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobrze spędziłam czas przy tej książce.

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is basically Agatha Christie's autobiography, but stopped before she knew she would be happy again. It's bleak 😭 but it's from the heart. I would recommend reading her actual autobiography instead of this, for a better sense of closure.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nobody realized how humble this pretty girl was feeling—how bitterly conscious of her social defects."

My pick for May’s Read Christie 2023.

The theme for this month is betrayal and, when I saw Unfinished Portrait listed as the official pick for May, I was beyond thrilled. I've been curious about the works Agatha Christie wrote under her pseudonym, Mary Westmacott, for some time now.

I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it, so I'll simply say that I can't wait to read more of the books Christie wrote and published under her pseudonym.

[Infada Spain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Χαμηλών τόνων στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του αυτό το κοινωνικό μυθιστόρημα της Agatha Christie (aka Mary Westmacott) μα τόσο ενδελεχές στην απεικόνιση της κεντρικής της ηρωίδας που δεν μπορούσα παρά να το αγαπήσω (όσο κι αν ήθελα να μην μείνει ατελές το πορτρέτο αυτής της τόσο αγαπημένης ηρωίδας).
Αξία έχουν τα λόγια του δεύτερου συζύγου της Agatha, Max Mallowan, σχετικά με το Ημιτελές Πορτρέτο :
"Ένα μείγμα μυθοπλασίας και πραγματικών γεγονότων και προσώπων. Ο χαρακτήρας της Σίλια [η κεντρική ηρωίδα] αποτελεί ό,τι πλησιέστερο έχουμε σε ένα ψυχολογικό πορτρέτο της Άγκαθα."

[Marc Chénier · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Although romance novels are not really the type of books I enjoy, this one was passable. I just couldn't bring myself to put it on my like list. It's really a well written story but just not for me.

Next Hardcover: "Rules Of Prey" by John Sanford (1989).

[Vavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt a bit cheated as this book is 90% Christie’s autobiography, which I read in 2018.
But, still I will give it 4 stars because I loved the biography and I think Christie really wanted to share something personal with this book. When you read this, you can be sure that Celia IS Agatha.

Only after chapter 10 the descriptions of her life begin to deviate a bit from her bio.
Chapter 18 is mostly very new. I guess this is what really happened to Christie in real life. Here the descriptions of the torment she lived are more detailed. Maybe because she wrote this just a few years after he abandoned her, and she was still bitter? In her bio, the dedicates just 2 pages to whole divorce and nervous breakdown topic.

I assume that when this book got published, it was still a secret that Mary Westmacott and Agatha Christie were the same person.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve always been really curious about Agatha Christie’s work as Mary Westmacott so I decided to start by reading an Unfinished Portrait.

First of all let me just say that I’ve always been a great fan of her work and for that reason my expectations towards this book were high - unfortunately they weren’t met. I didn’t like the main character – thought she was too submissive and naïve – and the writing was a bit dry. The plot wasn’t that appealing; I kept hopping that something interesting would happen but it didn’t.

Reading this book was a bit of a challenge but I managed to finish it; I wouldn’t recommend it, especially if you more accustomed to her crime novels.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

had it been possible, I would have given it 4.5 stars - this book gives a very good idea of whom Agatha Christie was - just loved it

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is based on Agatha Christie’s early life. If you read her autobiography first, you can see clearly how connected the two books are!

[Ioana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfinished Portrait este cel de-al doilea roman scris de Agatha Christie sub pseudonimul de Mary Westmacott și cartea aleasă pentru luna aprilie pentru #provocareaAgathaChristie
Publicat în 1934, volumul deapănă povestea de viață a Celiei, ce în urma unui divorț dureros se gândește la sinucidere. În timpul unui sejur pe o insulă exotică, îl întâlnește pe Larraby, un pictor specializat în portrete, căruia îi povestește copilăria, adolescența, mariajul eșuat și urmările sale.
Cartea este inspirată chiar de viața autoarei, așa că romanul ia forma unei lecturi semi-autobiografice, în special în ceea ce privește prima ei căsnicie.
Începutul a fost mai greuț pentru mine, dar cea de-a doua parte e plină de reflecții intime a unei relații unde aprecierea curge doar dintr-o parte. Narațiunea este fluidă, iar personajele înțesate în atribute reale. Mesajul din spatele deciziilor protagonistei prinde culoare și sens pe cum înaintezi în lectură, dezvăluind un destin împovărat de iubirea oarbă pentru un soț indiferent.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

**vague spoilers**

Very interesting to read a Christie "romance", not that there's much romance in it. Great insight into human behaviour in the context of the social structure of the time (1930s).
The best thing about the book is the contrast between Celia's cosetted dreamworld of a childhood, where she was shielded from everything, had nannies and staff running after her and a doting mother, and her bleak adult life; poor, married to an emotionless husband with a daughter who turns out like her "sensible" father rather than her "silly" mother.
The ending is a bit rushed but I thought it was clever how the "Gun Man" of her childhood nightmares came back into the conclusion of the book.
Overall, a very well-written story which proves that Christie wasn't just the Queen of Crime. After reading Unfinished Portrait, I will now go out of my way to find more Westmacott novels to enjoy.

[Matthies · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this one, but I'm very glad I pushed through. The story starts with Celia, on the edge of committing suicide. She meets the painter Larabby, and tells him about her life. The book itself is Larabby's written portrait of Celia. He narrates the story of her life: beginning with her youth, her adolescent years and so on goes through all the stages of her life until the age of 39 (the moment they meet). When you finally start to feel happy for Celia, her life turns around. The question remains what effect the meeting with Larabby will have on Celia.
The story is very beautifully written. It's also very interesting because of the image it gives of women's role in society in the early twentieth century.
Three stars because the beginning chapters were a bit dragging in my opinion, for sure compared to the other Westmacott novels. Either way a great read.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book on which to complete my love affair with Agatha Christie. I’ve finally read them all. A bittersweet event!

Was this autobiographical? We’ll never know. I have read her life story and there seems to be a lot of similarities. She was a very complicated woman.

Again, I was floored by her crude, distasteful references to Jews and African-Americans. It is appalling even though it was written in 1934.

[Lamiya Goycayeva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Düzü, Aqata Kristinin başqa adla qeyri-detektiv əsərlər yazdığını bilmirdim. Yaxşı mənada təəccübləndim və araşdırma qabiliyyətimə şübhə ilə yanaşdım.

“Natamam portret” əsərində Seliya adlı bir qadının həyat hekayəsindən bəhs edilir. Bu hekayədə nə Ceyn Eyrin dramı var, nə də Elizabet Bennetin ironiyası. Sən demə, sadə, şablon həyatdan da, sadəlövh insanın dünyanın o biri üzünü gördükcə böyüməsindən də maraqlı və oxunaqlı roman yazmaq olarmış. Süjeti laxlamır, inamla irəliləyir və məntiqi sonuna çatır.

İki əsr öncə İngiltərədə yaşayan həmcinsimin müasir dövrün insanına yad olmayan problemlərdən əziyyət çəkdiyini görmək növbəti dəfə ilahi ədalətə deyil, ilahi komediyaya inamımı artırdı.

Sonda nə deyə bilərəm? Natamam portretlərin bir gün sərgiləri bəzəməsi, yarımçıq talelərin bir gün həyata qarışması diləyi ilə.

[Miku · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pewien malarz spacerował po egzotycznej wyspie. W pewnym momencie zauważa kobietę i zwraca uwagę na jej rysy twarzy. Bardzo szybko wyczuwa, że ona chce popełnić samobójstwo, więc podchodzi do niej. Odwiódł ją od pierwotnego zamiaru i skłania Celie do zwierzeń na temat swojej przeszłości, co trwało całą noc. Postanowił wszystko zapisać.

To była ciekawa lektura. Trudno jest nie lubić Celie, która jest bardzo delikatną oraz wrażliwą dziewczynką, a potem kobietą. Przyglądamy się jej życiu od kiedy miała trzy latka. Poznajemy jaką miała relację z matką, bratem, ojcem, nianią czy innymi rówieśniczkami. Możemy zaobserwować jak jej wyobrażenia o życiu oraz miłości zderzają się z rzeczywistością, a to bolesne zderzenie ze ścianą. Autorka daje też nam do namysłu jak dzieciństwo oraz ludzie, którzy nas otaczają wpływają na odbiór różnych rzeczy już w dorosłym życiu.

Nie jestem fanką tego typu obyczajówek. Zwykle one są dla mnie nudne, a fabuła bardzo się przeciąga. Jednak tutaj czułam się bardzo zaciekawiona, a wszystkie elementy tej historii układałam sobie niczym puzzle, żeby stworzyć pełny obraz sytuacji i żeby przede wszystkim zrozumieć skąd to wszystko się wytworzyło. To powolny proces, więc trzeba się uzbroić w cierpliwość i metodycznie przesuwać się rozdział za rozdziałem.

[Preethi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Low key that was straight-up Horror.

Also, I've now finished all the Westmacott novels! They're actual gems. The emotional punch of these books is wild.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so the great Agatha Christie project comes to an end. This is the last of her Mary Westmacott novels, at least in the order that I read them in, and it was a pretty fitting end because it’s basically the quintessential Westmacott novel, with everything that that entails.

Christie’s Westmacott books leave the murder mystery stuff behind and focus instead on the relationships between people. How that actually works in practice can vary quite a lot and some of them are much better than others. This one was towards the better end, although I’m not particularly convinced about the overall setup to the book, the gimmick in which it’s presented as an unfinished portrait of a person’s life, a bit like an unfinished painting.

There’s not too much to say about this one because all of the goodness comes from the subtleties of the interactions between the different characters. It’s not a fast-paced novel, although it does feel like one if you’re able to get the Agatha Christie signature edition, which is a beautiful artefact in its own right.

I can understand why people don’t read the Westmacott books, but I do think that they’re worth giving a try, especially if you’re a fan of more introspective fiction that holds up a mirror to the reader and sees if they’re found wanting. It’s like literary fiction, except easier to read. And yes, there’s a little romance there. It’s just not the overriding premise, with it factoring in instead in the same way that love generally plays a part in life.

So would I recommend this one? Well, it depends. To a general reader, probably not. To an Agatha Christie fan, though, it’s definitely worth giving at least one of her Westmacott novels a go, and this is as good a book to pick up as any of them. It’s also just the right length, lasting for just long enough to stop it from getting dull. So yeah.

[Crissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending of this book had me in a daze, I was mind blown!!!!! It was so mysterious, I still have questions and yet it answered just enough of the questions to know what happened!! I want to know more about our narrator Larraby - like a portrait painter who can't paint anymore? Intriguing.
Loved the image of the Gun Man throughout the narrative.
I started reading this not realizing it was largely based off Christie's life and then started realizing it as I was reading. It definitely felt very personal and Christie's most thorough examination of a character. Larraby described Celia as someone who lives " by the inner vision" and I think that is a good way to describe Christie too.
What jumped out at me, among many other things, about Celia's narrative is the unique creativity of her mother which was obviously passed down to Celia/Agatha and also that this time period really put women in shitty situations where they literally knew nothing about married life, real life, employment skills, etc, so they were completely at the mercy of whatever dude they married. You see this Celia, her naivety is her biggest issue, but also kind of tied into her imagination/"inner vision". Her mother and grandmother try to warn her about "the men" but she doesn't listen.
I thought Christie's depiction of Dermot (Archie character) was interesting because it wasn't like he was total trash all the time, but there were subtle flaws here and there that showed his real character. He felt like a real person because you could see how it was not obvious at all times that he was a jerk deep down.
ANYWAY shoutout to Agatha Christie for finding happiness in her second marriage and becoming so wildly successful with her books that the only reason anyone even remembers her first husband is because of her.... ✊✊

[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 5 out of 5]

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