This edition published 15th June 2017. Or8ginally published 1948.
From the cover of the book:
A captivating novel of love and intrigue.
Everyone expected Isabella Charteris, beautiful, sheltered and aristocratic, to marry her cousin Rupert when he came back from the War. It would have been such a suitable marriage. How strange then that John Gabriel, an ambitious and ruthless war hero, should appear in her life. For Isabella, the price of love would mean abandoning her dreams of home and happiness forever. For Gabriel, it would destroy his chance of a career and all his ambitions…
Famous for her ingenious crime books and plays, Agatha Christie also wrote about crimes of the heart, six bittersweet and very personal novels, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.
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When Hugh Norreys is badly injured in a car accident, the course of his life drastically changes. Instead of the future he expected by running away with his married lover, he finds himself a broken man unable to walk. He moves in with his artist brother Robert and sister-in-law Teresa, and joins them in relocating to the Cornish town of St Loo.
Teresa becomes involved in the 1945 political campaign to elect a new M.P. for St Loo, and Hugh watches the resulting drama from his couch. His status as invalid encourages visitors to open up to him, and he becomes the confidante of a number of characters - notably pushy John Gabriel, who is standing as the Conservative candidate; and beautiful Isabella Charteris, who lives with her three elderly aunts at St Loo Castle.
As the campaign proceeds, Hugh begins to intensely dislike cynical, working-class Gabriel, who insists on sharing with him how he intends to get one over on the upper class element of St Loo to cement a rise in his fortunes. Meanwhile, Hugh becomes very fond of the otherworldly Isabella, who waits for her war hero cousin, Rupert, to return to St Loo to claim his bride. What Hugh does not foresee is that Gabriel will be willing to throw up his aspirations in pursuit of his baser instincts.
This is the fourth book Agatha Christie published under the pen name Mary Westmacott, and the last to be published before the real identity of the author was revealed to the public. This is my #ReadChrsitie2026 #BiggestBestBeloved pick for July, for the prompt Hidden Gem, and my first Mary Westmacott novel!
The story is narrated by Hugh, beginning with a surprise visit from a stranger requesting he visit John Gabriel on his death-bed, some years after the events in St Loo. He then tells the story of the election campaign from his perspective, by way of his own romantic and physical misfortunes. Hugh's impassioned account, which thrums with bittersweet emotions, immerses you in the complicated relationships between the principal players, and the shocking events elicited by the arrival of John Gabriel. Hugh follows the St Loo shenanigans with more drama around his reunion with Gabriel in post-war Eastern Europe. He then ties up all the loose ends by returning to the present, detailing what he learns from a dying Gabriel.
Without giving the game away, this is a story full of twists and turns that delve into love, class, innocence, sin, and redemption. It beautifully explores how people appear in different guises to others, often with startlingly different results. There are lovely echoes of Gothic tragedy, and Christie does an incredible job of getting into all the political and prejudicial nitty-gritty of the time and place in which the story is set.
I really did not know what to expect from this one, as it is not a one of the crime mysteries I know and love from Christie, but this book actually bears all the hallmarks of the excellent way she cuts to the heart of the human aspects of her other work. I was utterly immersed in the story, hanging on the humour, heartache, and carefully crafted nuances in the characters - Teresa was my favourite - on the way to a very thought-provoking ending.
A hidden gem, indeed. I cannot wait to get to know the other Westmacott novels.
The Rose and the Yew Tree is available to buy now in multiple formats.
About the author:
Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.
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