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3.5*
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Although not as excellent and earth-shattering as A Daughter's a Daughter and Absent in the Spring, The Burden is another great psychological drama from Agatha Christie. Under the nom de plume Westmacott, she wrote six novels that were not crime mysteries, but stories where she could concentrate on analysing what made people ‘tick�, and topics that were of particular interest to her.

Once more, Christie portrays personalities at a crux in their lives while focusing on a theme, that of the ‘weight� of being loved. I must admit I thought she was going into a completely different road, that of Fate and how your actions have far-reaching consequences. It was subtler than that however. I wonder if this was due to having several narrators (not just the sisters), and indeed narratives, which somewhat joined at the end. Still, the result left me perplexed. The characters, although well portrayed, felt weakened by these shifts in focus, but then maybe the journey was more important.

This is still a great read, showing Christie’s amazing understanding of the human condition, and power to convey so many emotions, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a first Westmacott.