Giant’s Bread by Mary Westmacott (1930)

Book review by George S: This is the first of the novels that Agatha Christie published under the name of Mary Westmacott. It is an odd book, though an interesting one. (Warning: The review contains spoilers.) It begins with a prologue, the opening night of a new opera, The Giant, by an unknown Russian composer. … Continue reading →

Absent In the Spring (1944) by Mary Westmacott

Book Review by France Soar: When Agatha Christie, already renowned for her detective fiction, chose to write certain novels under the pen-name Mary Westmacott, she was presumably seeking to avoid any preconceptions on the part of her readers. By the time I came to read Absent in the Spring, in the spring of 2022, anonymity … Continue reading →

Adventures of Bindle (1919) by Herbert Jenkins

Book review by Hilary Temple I had never come across Herbert Jenkins before I found this book on the shelves of my parents-in-law, who otherwise showed a marked predilection for Dornford Yates. The first edition proudly claims to have printed 40,000 copies, which sounds a very respectable number and followed the previous success of Bindle. … Continue reading →

The Tenth Anniversary of Reading 1900-1950

Dear Reading 1900-1950 Blog followers, On the 19th July we are celebrating ten years of reading mainly popular fiction from the first half of the twentieth century by launching a book of reviews showcasing the work of the group. The reviews have mainly been specially written by current members of the reading group, though we … Continue reading →