{{Short description|1956 novel by Agatha Christie}} {{About|the Agatha Christie novel|the Swedish animated film|The Burden (film)}} {{Use British English|date=November 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject Books --> | name = The Burden | title_orig = | translator = | image = The Burden First Edition Cover 1956.jpg | caption = Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition | author = Mary Westmacott (pseudonym of Agatha Christie) | illustrator = | cover_artist = Kenneth Farnhill | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = | publisher = Heinemann | release_date = 12 November 1956 | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) | pages = 236 pp (first edition, hardcover) | preceded_by = Dead Man's Folly | followed_by = 4.50 from Paddington }}
'''''The Burden''''' is a novel written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Heinemann on 12 November 1956. Initially not published in the US, it was later issued as a paperback by Dell Publishing in September 1963. It was the last of six novels Christie wrote under the nom-de-plume Mary Westmacott.
==Explanation of the novel's title== The title of the novel is taken from Chapter 11, Verse 30 of the Gospel of Matthew. The full line, as quoted in the Epigraph to the novel, is:
:"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
==Plot summary==
When Laura Franklin's younger sister Shirley comes into the world, Laura instantly resents her, and soon begins to wish and even pray that her baby sister will die. But after saving Shirley's life in a fire, she experiences a complete change of feeling, and becomes very affectionate and protective towards her. Later, as the sisters grow up and fall in love, Laura begins to realise that the burden of her love for Shirley has had a dramatic effect on both their lives. <!--Each of the novel's three parts is told by a different narrator, in a different time period. Laura first; then a lovestruck Shirley; and then Shirley's lover years later. I'm not sure that this bit is true. It seems to contradict my recollection on the book, which I read many years ago. I'll try to check it out in the next few days. In the meantime, I'm making this bit invisible.-->
==Literary significance and reception==
Siriol Hart's review in the ''Times Literary Supplement'' of 7 December 1956, said, "''The Burden'' is by a writer who has been Mary Westmacott for six books and Agatha Christie for more than anyone can count. In spite of the modern smart trimmings, this seems very much the art of story-telling that would be at home in the most staunchly traditional woman's magazine, where all the problems are resolved when the mousey heroine puts on some lipstick (called, in this case "Fatal Apple"), and finds the love of her life."<ref>''The Times Literary Supplement'' 7 December 1956 (Page 717)</ref>
Vernon Johnson reviewed the novel in the 20 November 1956, issue of ''The Guardian'' when he called it a "fantastical novelette" and quoted several lines from the book in a disparaging fashion, stating that they were examples of "the style and the treatment".<ref>''The Guardian'' 20 November 1956 (Page 4)</ref>
== Publication history ==
* 1956, Heinemann (London), 12 November 1956, Hardcover, 236 pp * 1963, Dell Books (New York), September 1963, Paperback, 223 pp * 1973, William Collins and Sons, Hardcover, 192 pp * 1973. Arbor House, (New York), Hardcover, 223 pp * 1975, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp * 1979, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 321 pp {{ISBN|0-7089-0331-2}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://uk.agathachristie.com/christies-work/stories/the-burden/ ''The Burden''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318154842/http://uk.agathachristie.com/christies-work/stories/the-burden/ |date=18 March 2012 }} at the official Agatha Christie website
{{Agatha Christie}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burden}} Category:Novels by Agatha Christie Category:1956 British novels Category:1956 English-language novels Category:Works published under a pseudonym Category:Heinemann (publisher) books