Celia fue una niña feliz, una joven solicitada, una esposa amante y entregada. Su vida era, ella misma lo reconocería más tarde, vulgar; pero marcada por una timidez congénita que la llevaría a hacer de su madre la única referencia psicológica; y esa dependencia sólo la podrían romper los propios sinsabores de la historia de Celia...

This is basically Agatha Christie's autobiography, but stopped before she knew she would be happy again. It's bleak ( )

4/13/22

I heard that this book was a quasi autobiography of one of my favorite authors (Agatha Christie) that relates to a time when the author disappeared. This was an intriguing book. ( )

It is indicated by Christie's daughter, Rosalind Hicks that "It (Unfinished Portrait) also relied a lot on her (Agatha Christie) own experiences and early life." For more details, see the link at the bottom of this review.

There are moments when it seems absolutely impossible that the Mary Westmacott novels were written during the time period of 1930 - 1956. I can't imagine the joy for those that had the opportunity on their life journey to interact with Agatha Christie. She is so insightful and through her characters conveys an amazing clarity of relationships (e.g. husband/wife, father/daughter, mother/daughter, nurse/child, grandmother/granddaughter).

But there is also a sadness to the main character of Celia and perhaps it is best explained by quotes by Agatha Christie during her lifetime.
• “Everybody said, "Follow your heart". I did, it got broken”
• “But surely for everything you love you have to pay some price.”

I am looking forward to reading the next romance titled, "Absent in the Spring."

Don't miss reading more about the novels by Christie's daughter, Rosalind Hicks...
https://www.agathachristie.com/about-christie/family-memories/the-mary-westmacot... ( )