Absent in the Spring

by Christie, writing as Mary Westmacott, Agatha

  Agatha Christie’s books have sold over one billion copies in the English language and another billion in more than 100 countries, making her the best-selling novelist in history. Her stories have transcended the printed page, also finding success as adaptations for stage, films, television, radio, audiobooks, comic strips and interactive games, and her many stage plays have enjoyed critical acclaim – the most famous, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. Agatha Christie was made a Dame in 1971.

  It was her sharp observations of people’s ambitions, relationships and conflicts that added life and sparkle to her ingenious detective stories. When she turned this understanding of human nature away from the crime genre, writing anonymously as Mary Westmacott to prove to herself that her books could sell on merit rather than her fame alone, she created bittersweet novels, love stories with a jagged edge, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.

  Also by the Author

  THE MARY WESTMACOTT COLLECTION

  Giant’s Bread

  Unfinished Portrait

  Absent in the Spring

  The Rose and the Yew Tree

  A Daughter’s a Daughter

  The Burden

  Copyright

  Harper Fiction

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  First Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 1997

  This edition 2009

  First published in Great Britain by Collins 1944

  Copyright © Agatha Christie Mallowan 1944

  www.agathachristie.com

  Source ISBN: 9780006499473

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  Source ISBN 9780006499473

  Ebook Edition © NOV 2013 ISBN 9780007534982

  Version 2013-10-11

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