Customer Reviews

Daughter's Daughter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a collection of three novels by Agatha Christie under her pen name Mary Westmacott. The novels are well-written and easily accessible. They stories involve families with problems; daughter and mother conflict; child who needs to grow up; and daughter who is not loved by parents. All three books trace the main character through a long period of time. The books are somewhat sad. Things do not go well for these people. In the end the main character learns and grows and finds a solution to the problem. The daughter and mother resolve their conflict. The child who does not grow up learns to grow up the hard way and the daughter who is not loved learns to accept the love of her husband.

These books get to the heart of the conflicts between people and that is valuable. They are high quality and do not resemble the murder mystery format that the author was famous for. These books are not high-brow and they are not targeted towards snooty intellectuals. I recommend them to anyone who wants to see how a good author creates characters and resolves conflicts between characters.

Want to know more about Agatha Christie's famous "disappearance" many years ago? "Unfinished Portrait" is very autobiographical and explains her breakdown.

The other two novels are almost as interesting. The other trilogy of Mary Westmacott novels is excellent. "Giant's Bread" is superb.

"A Daughter's A Daughter" is one of six novels Agatha Christie wrote under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott. Though decidedly different from her more famous mysteries, Christie brings her sharp observations of human nature into play in this tale of a widowed mother and her irrepressible daughter. After years of living together in devoted admiration, Ann Prentice and her daughter Sarah find themselves in conflict when a man falls in love with the mother and threatens to destroy the life they have grown accustomed to. Sarah does everything in her power to drive the man away, but at what price?

Following the pair over the course of several years, the author details the fall-out of the daughter's action, the mother's revenge, and the values which allow them to find a happy conclusion. Edith, the wise housekeeper for the two women, recalls the old adage, "A son is your son till he takes a wife, but a daughter's a daughter all of her life."

Though often dated in its depiction of women and the male/female roles (originally published in 1952) the analysis of the mother/daughter relationship and the forces which drive women to do less than admirable things will no doubt be satisfying for devotees of women's fiction.

Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott is a true inspiration.
I cannot believe she wrote so few real novels. This is a must read.

The first novel had me crying helplessly but it is an emotionally poignant story. I love Agatha Christie's writing in general and have read all of her novels and short stories but these non-detective stories really do showcase her real talent for writing. All of her novels are well written, grammatical, and absorbing. The ability to create real characters and realistic interactions is part of what makes her a great writer but is generally restricted to the background to her puzzle books. Here, where the characterizations are the frontis piece, that ability really shines.

This contains three of her six Westmacott novels, the other three can be found together in a separate omnibus.

If you like touching stories, or the occassional tear-jerker, these are well worth the time.