Absent in the Spring, with Kemper Donovan from All About Agatha

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 1960s⁠NOW⁠!

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 atChristieTime.com. Our YouTube account is @Westmapod. 

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Westmapod is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

00:00:00 - Opening titles

00:01:06 - Introductory chat

00:02:40 - Absent in the Spring

00:03:02 - The context of Absent in the Spring

00:23:24 - The structure of Absent in the Spring

00:38:44 - The autobiographical elements of Absent in the Spring

00:52:33 - Psychoanalysis

01:16:29 - Adultery

01:31:08 - If you liked this, try that

01:38:16 - Who is Mary Westmacott?

01:40:56 - Next episode, how to get in touch, closing titles

01:47:51 - Coda

Spoilers, besides Absent in the Spring - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Endless Night