Within a Wall is an early short story, written by Agatha Christie which was first published in The Royal Magazine in October 1925. It was not published as part of a collection until While the Light Lasts and Other Stories in the U.K. and The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories in the U.S., both in 1997.
Synopsis[]
This early Christie story is about an artist, his money-loving wife, and another woman whose artistic judgment he relies on.
Plot[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
Alan Everard, a successful modernist painter, is married to the beautiful society girl Isobel Loring, who eagerly promotes her husband's work. At one of her tea parties, to which she invites the London art critics, she unveils her husband's latest masterpiece—a portrait of herself. But Alan realises the picture is lifeless. However, a sketch he has done of his daughter's godmother, Jane Haworth, is full of life and honesty. Alan soon discovers that the real contribution Jane has made to his life is not just her artistic judgement.
Alan occasionally gets irritated by Jane’s behaviour. She has the ability to see the good and bad of his art but never criticises his paintings like she should. She is always saying they are wonderful when he knows she is being less than honest. He thinks she is the one person he can rely on to tell the truth about his work – although she doesn’t actually say it when things are “ordinary” or “lacking”.
Going through his financial papers one day he realises his wife, Isobel, is receiving money from Jane on a regular basis. She claims it is for their daughter, Winnie. (Jane is Winnie's godmother).
However Jane dies later and leaves Alan as the Executor and he realises that Jane has very little money left. She had been giving all her money to Isobel over a long period of time and that it is not all for Winnie. From her diary, Alan also realises that Jane has done this because she has always been in love with him. He realises that Jane paid for his freedom. So long as Isobel was supplied with money, she left him alone to be the kind of artist he wanted to be.
He confronts Isobel with this discovery and she accepts this and points out that she had not made any fuss over his preoccupation with Jane or her obvious love for him. Now that Jane has gone Isobel has now got her man to herself! Alan feels his World getting smaller, walls are closing in and he is trapped in this relationship. But does he acquiesce?
A hint of how it ends may be found at the beginning of the story, where it is noted that famous modernist paintings like Colours and The Connoisseur were from his early period. He later became a fashionable portrait painter. He has told Isobel that is not the kind of tree he wants to be on top of, but Isobel says he will get to the top of the tree and it's the way to make a lot of money.
Characters[]
Mentioned
Publications History[]
- 1925: The Royal Magazine vol. 54, no. 324, Oct 1925.[1]
- 1936: The Novel Magazine vol. 63, no. 373, Apr 1936.
- 1997: The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories, G. P. Putnams, Apr 1997.
- 1997: While the Light Lasts and Other Stories, HarperCollins, Aug 1997.
- 2008: Miss Marple and Mystery: The Complete Short Stories, HarperCollins (London), 2008.