The Rose and the Yew Tree

{{Short description|1948 novel by Agatha Christie}} {{Use British English|date=November 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox book |  | name =The Rose and the Yew Tree | title_orig = | translator = | image =Rose and Yew Tree First Edition Cover.jpg | caption=Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition | author =Mary Westmacott (pseudonym of Agatha Christie) | illustrator = | cover_artist= | country =United Kingdom | language =English | series = | genre =Tragedy | publisher =William Heinemann Ltd | release_date=November 1948 | media_type =Print (hardback & paperback) | pages =224 pp (first edition, hardback) | preceded_by =The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | followed_by =Crooked House}}

'''''The Rose and the Yew Tree''''' is a tragedy novel written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd in November 1948 and in the US by Farrar & Rinehart later in the same year. It is the fourth of six novels Christie published under the pen name Mary Westmacott, and the last of the Westmacott novels to be published before the true identity of their author was publicly revealed in 1949.

==The novel's title== The title of the novel is taken from Section V of ''Little Gidding'' from T. S. Eliot's ''Four Quartets''. The full line, as quoted in the epigraph to the novel, is: :"The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree :Are of equal duration".

==Plot summary== Hugh Norreys, crippled in a road accident, watches from his couch as John Gabriel runs for parliament in the small Cornish town of St. Loo. Hugh's invalid status seems to encourage his visitors to reveal their secrets and emotions. Hugh is mystified by Gabriel, an ugly little man who, nevertheless, is attractive to women. He is also intrigued by Isabella, a beautiful young woman from the castle down the road. So, Hugh and most of St. Loo are shocked when, shortly after Gabriel wins the election, he and Isabella run away together and Gabriel resigns as a member of parliament.

The novel explores love, caring for others, redemption, and a gothic tragedy of one woman and the men who love her.

==Literary significance and reception== ''The Times Literary Supplement'''s review of 6 November 1948, by Sir Julian Henry Hall concluded, "Miss Westmacott writes crisply and is always lucid. The pattern of the book is too vague at one point – the later stages of the hero's career – but much material has been skilfully compressed within little more than 200 pages."<ref>''The Times Literary Supplement'' 6 November 1948 (Page 621)</ref>

==Publication history== *'''1948''' William Heinemann Ltd (London), November 1948, Hardback, 224 pp *'''1948''' Farrar & Rinehart (New York), 1948, Hardback, 249 pp *'''1964''' Dell Books, Paperback, 189 pp *'''1971''' Arbor House, Hardback, 249 pp *'''1974''' Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp *'''1978''' Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 358 pp {{ISBN|0-7089-0180-8}}

The novel was first serialised in the US in ''Good Housekeeping'' in two abridged instalments, carried in the December 1947 and January 1948 issues.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.agathachristie.com/stories/the-rose-and-the-yew-tree] at the official Agatha Christie website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose and the Yew Tree}} Category:Novels by Agatha Christie Category:1948 British novels Category:1948 English-language novels Category:Works originally published in Good Housekeeping Category:Novels first published in serial form Category:Works published under a pseudonym Category:Novels set in Cornwall Category:Heinemann (publisher) books