Gray Robert Brown

That's what we're always trying to get to in this podcast, right?

It's like, who is Mary Westmacott?

Is she no longer able to be so honest?

Is she hidebound now by the reveal?

I do too, and I will too, as we're being cagey.

I did wonder if it was worth speculating here briefly.

Because obviously she says to Cork, we'll carry on with the racket.

I wonder if, you know, will we get this sense of a dying empire now?

Is it past its purpose?

Or I suddenly thought as we were putting together the notes for this episode, is this the reason why we get more...

Miss Marple and Ariadne Oliver disproportionately with the latter half of the Christie books because she uses them increasingly as, sometimes, not always, as mouthpieces and ciphers.

An outlet for those sources.

Outlets, exactly.

Because she no longer has, or no longer has need of,

the Westmacott outlet.

But yeah, it would be really interesting to see after this if it represents change.

And I wanted to bring back Gil.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this actually.

She draws quite a clear line between the first three Westmacotts, so Giant Spread, Unfinished Portrait, Absent in the Spring, and the latter three, so Today's, Rose in the Yew Tree, Daughters of Daughter, and The Burden.

saying that the first three are very much about the events and emotions of christmas childhood youth first marriage and the best and the and then so the best key to her mature years is offered by the later westmacots most especially the rose in the yew tree it's interesting i've seen people divide them either slightly earlier or slightly later