Absent in the Spring (23 page)

‘Miss Westmacott writes crisply and is always lucid … much material has been skilfully compressed.'

Times Literary Supplement

ISBN 978–0–00–649948–0

‘These books are dramatic, and concentrate on the solution to situations which arise out of the high tensions in life.'

Max Mallowan

Ann Prentice falls in love with Richard Cauldfield and hopes for new happiness. Her only child, Sarah, cannot contemplate the idea of her mother marrying again and wrecks any chance of her remarriage. Resentment and jealousy corrode their relationship as each seeks relief in different directions. Are mother and daughter destined to be enemies for life or will their underlying love for each other finally win through?

‘Miss Westmacott shows narrative talent – I should expect her books to be very popular.'

Observer

ISBN 978–0–00–649949–7

‘Sometimes you haven't the right currency. And then someone else has to pay …'

Agatha Christie

Laura Franklin bitterly resented the arrival of her younger sister Shirley, an enchanting baby loved by all the family. But Laura's emotions towards her sister changed dramatically one night, when she vowed to protect her with all her strength and love. While Shirley longs for freedom and romance, Laura has to learn that loving can never be a one-sided affair, and the burden of her love for her sister has a dramatic effect on both their lives. A story of consequences when love turns to obsession …

‘Very much the art of story-telling that would be at home in the woman's magazine.'

Times Literary Supplement

ISBN 978–0–00–649950–3

‘Perfectly delightful … colourful, lively, occasionally touching and thought-provoking.'

Books & Bookmen

Agatha Christie was already well known as a crime writer when she accompanied her husband, Max Mallowan, to Syria and Iraq in the 1930s. She took enormous interest in all his excavations, and when friends asked what her strange life was like, she decided to answer their questions in this delightful book.

First published in 1946,
Come, Tell Me How You Live
gives a charming picture of Agatha Christie herself, while also giving insight into some of her most popular novels, including
Murder in Mesopotamia
and
Appointment with Death
. It is, as Jacquetta Hawkes concludes in her introduction, ‘a pure pleasure to read'.

‘Good and enjoyable … she has a delightfully light touch.'

Country Life

ISBN 978–0–00–653114–2

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her first book,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles,
was written during the First World War and introduced us to Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective with the ‘Little Grey Cells', who was destined to reappear in nearly 100 different novels or short stories over the next 50 years. Agatha also created the elderly crime-solver, Miss Marple, as well as more than 2,000 colourful characters across her 80 crime books.

Agatha Christie's books have sold over one billion copies in the English language and another billion in more than 100 countries, making her the best-selling novelist in history. Her stories have transcended the printed page, also finding success as adaptations for stage, films, television, radio, audiobooks, comic strips and interactive games, and her many stage plays have enjoyed critical acclaim – the most famous,
The Mousetrap,
opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. Agatha Christie was made a Dame in 1971.

It was her sharp observations of people's ambitions, relationships and conflicts that added life and sparkle to her ingenious detective stories. When she turned this understanding of human nature away from the crime genre, writing anonymously as Mary Westmacott to prove to herself that her books could sell on merit rather than her fame alone, she created bittersweet novels, love stories with a jagged edge, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.

THE MARY WESTMACOTT COLLECTION

Giant's Bread

Unfinished Portrait

Absent in the Spring

The Rose and the Yew Tree

A Daughter's a Daughter

The Burden

Harper Fiction

An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers

77–85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First Published by HarperCollins
Publishers
1997

This edition 2009

First published in Great Britain by Collins 1944

Copyright © Agatha Christie Mallowan 1944

www.agathachristie.com

Source ISBN: 9780006499473

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

HarperCollins
Publishers
has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN 9780006499473

Ebook Edition © NOV 2013 ISBN 9780007534982

Version 2013-10-11

Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com