The Rose and the Yew Tree

infobox Book |
name = The Rose and the Yew Tree
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
author = Mary Westmacott (pseudonym of Agatha Christie)
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Tragedy
publisher = William Heinemann Ltd
release_date = November 1948
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 224 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = NA
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 nom-de-plume Mary Westmacott.

Explanation of 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, a self-described “cripple” watches John Gabriel run for parliament from his couch 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, and a gothic tragedy of one woman and the men who love her.

Literary significance and reception

"The Times Literary Supplement"'s review of November 6, 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." ["The Times Literary Supplement" November 6, 1948 (Page 621)]

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 0-70-890180-8

The novel was first serialised in the US in "Good Housekeeping" in two abridged instalments from December 1947 to January 1948.

References

External links

* [http://us.agathachristie.com/site/find_a_story/stories/Absent_in_the_Spring_and_other_Stories.php "The Rose and the Yew Tree"] at the official Agatha Christie website