The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott Narrator: Daniel Philpott
Published by Harper Collins on June 24, 2025 (first published November 8, 1948)
Source: Library
Genres: Fiction
Length: 7 hrs 11 mins
Pages: 272
Format: Audiobook
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Everyone expected Isabella Charteris, beautiful, sheltered and aristocratic, to marry her cousin Rupert St. Loo 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....
I don’t know who told me that Mary Westmacott was the name Agatha Christie wrote her romances under, but I wish they hadn’t. Granted, The Rose and the Yew Tree isn’t a mystery, even if we do get a murder, but it isn’t a stereotypical romance either. Most of the story takes place in a small town in Southern England during the run up to the General Election of 1945. Christie does a great job of developing the characters and commenting on the politics of the era.
Our narrator, who doesn’t even get a mention in the blurb, is Hugh Norreys, a World War II veteran who was invalided due to a car accident. He has moved in with his brother and sister-in-law and is mostly feeling sorry for himself until he is distracted by his lovely neighbor, Isabella Charteris, and war hero turned politician, John Gabriel. Hughes status as an invalid stuck in a chair means others have a tendency to talk to him, he’s a captive audience for anyone who has something to get off his or her chest. He’s not the main character in his story though – Gabriel and Isabella are. The blurb tells us a bit too much, but also leaves out how complicated love can be as a motivation and as a means of redemption.
I don’t know why I was surprise by how much I enjoyed this one. Since the plot is not the star, Christie can spend more time on her characters and social commentary. It’s witty and touching and doesn’t quite pass the line into melodrama, but comes close.
About Mary Westmacott
Mary Westmacott is the pseudonym used by Agatha Christie to write her dramatic novels about relationships.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world’s longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and six romances under the name Mary Westmacott. In 1971 she was elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature.
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