The Rose and the Yew Tree

A cautionary tale of social climbing by Agatha Christie, written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

Agatha Christie, famous for her ingenious crime novels, also wrote about crimes of the heart. Written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, Christie’s tales of romantic suspense further explore the human psychology she was so intrigued by, freed from the expectations of her mystery fans.  

The Rose and the Yew Tree tells the story of Isabella Charteris, a beautiful, sheltered aristocrat who everyone expected to marry her cousin Rupert when he came back from the War. It would have been such a suitable marriage. How strange then that John Gabriel, an ambitious and ruthless war hero, should appear in her life. For Isabella, the price of love would mean abandoning her dreams of home and happiness forever. For Gabriel, it would destroy his chance of a career and all his ambitions…

A favorite of both Agatha Christie and her daughter Rosalind, this story examines the darker side of class divisions and the price of ambition.