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The Burden

July 7, 2026 · 1 h 22 min

Show notes

It’s the sixth and final Mary Westmacott novel: The Burden. (But not the final Westmapod episode, so stay subscribed!)

Join Gray and Mark as they unburden themselves of their thoughts about the experience of reading this startling hidden gem of a novel! What a way to close out a run of exceptional writing from Mary Westmacott, aka Agatha Christie.

We’re not done yet! We’ll be reconvening for a special Reflections episode where we’ll be taking stock of all six books and reading and responding to our listener messages. So do get in touch ahead of our Reflections episode, which will drop in due course...

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 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. Our artwork is designed by Tom Double.

00:00:00 - Opening titles

00:01:11 - Introductory chat

00:03:34 - The Burden

00:04:02 - The context of The Burden

00:21:45 - The structure of The Burden

00:33:55 - Autobiographical elements

00:52:16 - Laura’s story

01:04:57 - Llewwelyn’s story

01:13:33 - If you liked this, try that

01:18:11 - Next episode, how to get in touch, closing titles

01:21:10 - Coda

All episodes of Westmapod: Agatha Christie’s Secret Identity

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