The Rose and the Yew Tree
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition | |
Author | Mary Westmacott (pseudonym of Agatha Christie) |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Tragedy |
Publisher | William Heinemann Ltd |
Publication date | November 1948 |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Pages | 224 pp (first edition, hardback) |
Preceded by | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories |
Followed by | Crooked House |
The Rose and the Yew Tree is a tragedy novel written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd in November 1948 and in the US by Farrar & Rinehart later in the same year. It is the fourth of six novels Christie published under the pen name Mary Westmacott.
The novel's title
The title of the novel is taken from Section V of Little Gidding from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. The full line, as quoted in the epigraph to the novel, is:
- "The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree
- Are of equal duration".
Plot summary
Hugh Norreys, crippled in a road accident, watches from his couch as John Gabriel runs for parliament in the small Cornish town of St. Loo. Hugh's invalid status seems to encourage his visitors to reveal their secrets and emotions. Hugh is mystified by Gabriel, an ugly little man who, nevertheless, is attractive to women. He is also intrigued by Isabella, a beautiful young woman from the castle down the road. So, Hugh and most of St. Loo are shocked when, shortly after Gabriel wins the election, he and Isabella run away together and Gabriel resigns as a member of parliament.
The novel explores love, caring for others, redemption, and a gothic tragedy of one woman and the men who love her.
Literary significance and reception
The Times Literary Supplement's review of 6 November 1948, by Sir Julian Henry Hall concluded, "Miss Westmacott writes crisply and is always lucid. The pattern of the book is too vague at one point – the later stages of the hero's career – but much material has been skilfully compressed within little more than 200 pages."[1]
Publication history
- 1948 William Heinemann Ltd (London), November 1948, Hardback, 224 pp
- 1948 Farrar & Rinehart (New York), 1948, Hardback, 249 pp
- 1964 Dell Books, Paperback, 189 pp
- 1971 Arbor House, Hardback, 249 pp
- 1974 Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp
- 1978 Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 358 pp ISBN 0-7089-0180-8
The novel was first serialised in the US in Good Housekeeping in two abridged instalments, carried in the December 1947 and January 1948 issues.
References
- ^ The Times Literary Supplement 6 November 1948 (Page 621)
External links
- [1] at the official Agatha Christie website
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- Bibliography
- Universe
- Adaptations
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- The Secret Adversary
- The Murder on the Links
- The Man in the Brown Suit
- The Secret of Chimneys
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- The Big Four
- The Mystery of the Blue Train
- The Seven Dials Mystery
- The Murder at the Vicarage
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- Peril at End House
- Lord Edgware Dies
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- Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
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- Death in the Clouds
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- And Then There Were None
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- N or M?
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- Five Little Pigs
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- Towards Zero
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- Sparkling Cyanide
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- Crooked House
- A Murder Is Announced
- They Came to Baghdad
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- They Do It with Mirrors
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- A Pocket Full of Rye
- Destination Unknown
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- 4.50 from Paddington
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- Cat Among the Pigeons
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- The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
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- By the Pricking of My Thumbs
- Hallowe'en Party
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Westmacott
- Giant's Bread
- Unfinished Portrait
- Absent in the Spring
- The Rose and the Yew Tree
- A Daughter's a Daughter
- The Burden
collections
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- The Mysterious Mr Quin
- The Thirteen Problems
- The Hound of Death
- The Listerdale Mystery
- Parker Pyne Investigates
- Murder in the Mews
- The Regatta Mystery
- The Labours of Hercules
- The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories
- Three Blind Mice and Other Stories
- The Under Dog and Other Stories
- The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
- Double Sin and Other Stories
- The Golden Ball and Other Stories
- Poirot's Early Cases
- Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories
- Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories
- The Harlequin Tea Set
- While the Light Lasts and Other Stories
- Black Coffee
- And Then There Were None
- Appointment with Death
- Murder on the Nile
- The Hollow
- The Mousetrap
- Witness for the Prosecution
- Spider's Web
- Towards Zero
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- The Unexpected Guest
- Go Back For Murder
- Fiddlers Three
- Akhnaton
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television plays
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- Butter in a Lordly Dish
- Personal Call
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- Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (2004 docudrama)
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- Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019 film)
- Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020 film)
- See How They Run (2022 film)
- Archie Christie (first husband)
- Max Mallowan (second husband)
- Ashfield, Torquay (home)
- Greenway Estate (home)
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- Agatha Christie Award (Japan)
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