Westmapod: Agatha Christie's Secret Identity

Gray and Mark are joined by the internationally-beloved Agatha Christie expert, host of the smash-hit All About Agatha podcast - not to mention their very good friend - Kemper Donovan to discuss Absent in the Spring! What will Kemper, Mark and Gray make of Absent in the Spring, which Agatha Christie herself ranked among the very best of her novels. Is this the best Mary Westmacott? Listen on to find out!Read along with us! Each episode drops fortnightly, on Tuesdays. You have until Tuesday 26 May 2026  to read book 4, The Rose and the Yew Tree!WE'VE WRITTEN A BOOK! You can pre-order The Swinging Christies: How Agatha Christie Conquered the 1960s ⁠NOW⁠!You can find All About Agatha podcast here, and links to Kemper’s books can be found via his website here. To sign up to the All About Agatha Patreon, where parts of this episode debuted, visit this link.You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. Our website is ChristieTime.com. We are also on Bluesky at ChristieTime.com. Our YouTube account is @Westmapod. Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops. And do also stay subscribed to our other podcast, The Swinging Christies, for monthly episodes over there!Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.Westmapod is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.00:00:00 - Opening titles00:01:06 - Introductory chat00:02:40 - Absent in the Spring00:03:02 - The context of Absent in the Spring00:23:24 - The structure of Absent in the Spring00:38:44 - The autobiographical elements of Absent in the Spring00:52:33 - Psychoanalysis01:16:29 - Adultery01:31:08 - If you liked this, try that01:38:16 - Who is Mary Westmacott?01:40:56 - Next episode, how to get in touch, closing titles01:47:51 - CodaSpoilers, besides Absent in the Spring - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Endless Night

Welcome back to Westmapod, and welcome to Tenerife! Join Mark and Gray, sunning themselves, and discussing Unfinished Portrait, the second novel Agatha Christie wrote under her secret alter ego, Mary Westmacott! Will Unfinished Portrait give us a new insight into who Agatha really was? Is it worth a read? Was it just an excuse for a holiday? Listen on to hear.Read along with us! Each episode drops after a fortnight, on Tuesdays. You have until Tuesday 12 May 2026 to read book 3, Absent in the Spring!WE'VE WRITTEN A BOOK! You can pre-order The Swinging Christies: How Agatha Christie Conquered the 1960s ⁠NOW⁠!You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. Our website is ChristieTime.com. We are also on Bluesky at ChristieTime.com. Our YouTube account is @Westmapod. Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops. And do also stay subscribed to The Swinging Christies for monthly episodes over there!Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.Westmapod is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Artwork designed by Tom Double.00:00:00 - Opening titles00:01:03 - Introductory chat00:06:41 - Unfinished Portrait00:12:54 - The context of Unfinished Portrait00:20:31 - The structure of Unfinished Portrait00:30:41 - The autobiographical elements of Unfinished Portrait01:04:18 - Art & Artistry01:15:39 - A portrait of Dermot01:28:45 - If you liked this, try that01:16:02 - Who is Mary Westmacott?01:33:29 - Next episode, how to get in touch, closing titles01:36:36 - CodaSpoilers, besides Unfinished Portrait - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Endless NightTW: discussions of coercive control and abusive relationships, suicide

In the first full episode of Westmapod, Gray and Mark read and react to Giant’s Bread, the first novel Agatha Christie wrote under her secret alias, Mary Westmacott! Will Giant’s Bread give us a new insight into who Agatha really was? And is it worth a read? Listen to on to hear!Read along with us! Each episode drops after a fortnight, on Tuesdays. You have until Tuesday 28 April 2026 to read book 2, Unfinished Portrait!WE'VE WRITTEN A BOOK! You can pre-order The Swinging Christies: How Agatha Christie Conquered the 1960s NOW!You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. Our website is ChristieTime.com. We are also on Bluesky at ChristieTime.com. Our YouTube account is @Westmapod. Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops! And do also stay subscribed to The Swinging Christies for monthly episodes over there!Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.Westmapod is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Artwork designed by Tom Double.00:00:00 - Opening titles00:01:05 - Introductory chat00:02:29 - Giant’s Bread 00:03:33 - The context of Giant’s Bread, autobiographical elements00:28:31 - The structure of Giant’s Bread00:41:52 - Music & Genius00:52:30 - Emotions & Relationships01:01:00 - Faith & Antisemitism01:14:10 - If you liked this, try that01:16:02 - Who is Mary Westmacott?01:17:47 - Next episode, how to get in touch, closing titles01:21:01 - CodaSpoilers, besides Giant's Bread - Swan SongTW: discussion of suicide, discussion of antisemitism and antisemitic language quoted

It’s the introductory episode of Westmapod: Agatha Christie’s Secret Identity with co-hosts Gray and Mark (aka Christie Time, from The Swinging Christies podcast)!The alter ego of best-selling novelist Agatha Christie, Westmacott wrote six fascinating novels - and in this bookclub-style limited series, we will be going book-by-book to answer to question: who is Mary Westmacott?Read along with us! Each episode drops after a fortnight, on Tuesdays. You have until Tuesday 14 April 2026 to read book 1, Giant’s Bread!WE'VE WRITTEN A BOOK! You can pre-order The Swinging Christies: How Agatha Christie Conquered the 1960s ⁠NOW⁠!You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. Our website is ChristieTime.com. We are also on Bluesky at ChristieTime.com. Our YouTube account is @Westmapod. Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops! And do also stay subscribed to The Swinging Christies for monthly episodes over there!Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.Westmapod is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Artwork designed by Tom Double.00:00:00 - Opening titles00:00:58 - Introduction to Westmapod00:02:45 - Who is Mary Westmacott?00:08:41 - The six Mary Westmacott books00:14:46 - What are we looking to discover?00:19:25 - Series plan, next episode, how to get in touch00:22:34 - Closing titles00:23:31 - Coda