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The Burden

A Mary Westmacott Novel

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The Burden

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Gillian Kerrod
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About this listen

A superb novel of possessive love.

Laura Franklin bitterly resented the arrival of her younger sister Shirley, an enchanting baby loved by all the family. But Laura's emotions towards her sister changed dramatically one night, when she vowed to protect her with all her strength and love. While Shirley longs for freedom and romance, Laura has to learn that loving can never be a one-sided affair, and the burden of her love for her sister has a dramatic effect on both their lives. A story of consequences when love turns to obsession…

Famous for her ingenious crime books and plays, Agatha Christie also wrote about crimes of the heart, six bittersweet and very personal novels, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.

©2011 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Cosy Crime Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives Heartfelt

Critic reviews

‘The art of story-telling that would be at home in the woman’s magazine.’ Times Literary Supplement
All stars
Most relevant
This is a “slow burner”… and the best psychological novel I have ever read. I must admit, there was a point at which my faith faltered, and I questioned how the characters would reach a resolution. But they did, and in a very satisfactory way. After all, this is Agatha Christie! I know I will return to “The Burden”.
Gillian Kerrod meets the challenges for a performer very creditably.

Patience!

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The most perplexing Mary Westmacott tragedy. It starts well but the last third comes from the left field and feels tacked on. Some of the love matches feel like empty plot contrivances. It's still a good listen as even average Agatha Christie is compelling. Having said that this is not Mary Westmacott at her best.

Average

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I love the Mary Westmacott novels, but this one is not my favourite and was hard going. It treats some interesting themes about human relationships and psychology, but the story seems to veer between plodding exposition carried out by rather boring conversations between characters, and a few wildly melodramatic events that. It's hard to care much about new characters introduced near the end of the book. Also, I'm afraid I very much disliked this narrator. She used a very twee, sugary, girly sort of voice for the three main female characters, and the American character started sounding like he had been dropped in from a gangster film. Don't let you put this off other Westmacott titles, however, as they are excellent.

not her best

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