Within a Wall: an Agatha Christie Short Story

by Agatha Christie

Alan Everard is a struggling young portrait painter and artist unknowingly caught in a love triangle between his wife and his daughter’s godmother. But which of them does he love, and which one does he hate?

Librarian's note: previously published in the anthologies, While The Light Lasts and Other Stories, and The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories.

Genres: Agatha Christie, Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, Romance

100 pages, Unknown Binding

First published October 1, 1925

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's one of those you picked the wrong person stories.



A famous painter adores his beautiful wife but respects the opinions of their plain Jane friend. He is confused by his feelings towards both women and senses something about his wife's spending habits isn't right.

It's a morality tale. I guess?
I suppose it's meant to say that the one woman had substance while the beautiful woman did not. But there was no one that I connected with in this.
The wife didn't feel like a real villain. She was a user but she hid it well.
Which meant that I didn't really feel like her artist husband was particularly stupid or bad. He was faithful to his wife, and he didn't realize what was going on.
And the nice woman was a doormat. I have no pity for those people who sacrifice everything without complaint. SAY SOMETHING.
I didn't care for this one.

Read as part of the short story collection The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories

[kezzie ʚ♡ɞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

✩ 3 stars
~
i really don’t know what i should be feeling rn

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again Christie's intriguing characters are on full display here. Alan Everard is a painter. He has moments of brilliance and had done several life changing portraits, most often of working class people, but his society wife pushes him to accept more portrait commissions which do not display his talent as well, and they are commissions rather than passion projects.
No-one can work out why Isobel Loring married him when she had several other offers including one from a millionaire. They have a child and her godmother Jane is an old friend of his. When he paints a portrait of his wife, an art critic notes it is flat and lifeless even with such a renowned beauty as the subject. She drags out a half done work of Jane and tells Alan it is the better work but asks who the subject is, and what she did to make him hate her. There is life in Jane's portrait even as he has exaggerated her flaws.
His wife encourages him to visit Jane. Jane has always told him the truth about his art and he sometimes feels that he paints in order 'to show her' that he can do it.
Isobel is an arch manipulator. She knows Jane is in love with Alan, but he doesn't know. Isobel tells Jane how poor they are and Jane sends her money she can ill afford in order to buy clothes for the child. Isobel spends it on herself and 'suggests' Jane take the child for holidays. It is not until Jane dies and leaves her estate to him that Alan works it all out. Sorting her papers, he can see exactly how much she has sent to Isobel. But the real fight is over Alan's art. With Jane out of the way, Alan will have to paint more commissions rather than allow his creative spark to fire where it may.
What I can't get is her motive? I suspect she is jealous of his fame - none shall eclipse her - and clearly jealous of the poor woman who catches his creative eye and inflames his art. As the story closes, he understands that Isobel will suffocate him and his gift. there is a hint that he knows his fate.

‘Daddy, I’ve got a riddle. Can you guess it? “Within a wall as white as milk, within a curtain soft as silk, bathed in a sea of crystal clear, a golden apple doth appear.” Guess what that is?’
‘Your mother,’ said Alan absently. He was still hunting.
‘Daddy!’ Winnie gave a scream of laughter. ‘It’s an egg. Why did you think it was mummy?’

White, bland, constricting, encompassing, icy?
Ugh shudders - what a horrific marriage.

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. A simple story of love and respect or lack of it. But just under the surface is confusion and complexity galore. It's possible that I like mysteries and thrillers because they almost always have an ending, a finality, to them. The reader and most of the characters are able to return to simpler times. Not here. The story is as much about what comes next as Christie's written word. We meet the lead; he's Alan Everard, a young portrait painter just beginning to make a name for himself. Financially though, not even break-even. He's finished several startlingly good works, including one of his wife Isobel Loring but it seems to lack inner life, and one, just a sketch, of the godmother of Isobel and his five-year old daughter, Winnie. He paints Jane Haworth with far more faults than she deserves. Like he was angry at her. As he often is in real life. But he captures her with feelings and flaws. Unfortunately it must have been 1919 or 20 at the time of the terrible Spanish Flu; Jane caught it and soon died. Torn between two women, Alan now only has Isobel. That's when the title becomes applicable. I'll leave what comes next to you. (Fe2026)

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many writers take on this problem in short stories: what happens to the soul of the artist if he is forced to do works that are only for financial gain and not the unique spark that makes a painting more than just a picture but art (or substitute what other medium). It doesn't seem that most writers allow for compromise.

This is a good story.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

the Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again

[Dennis Brock · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason I just couldn't get into this short story that much. I see many people have rated it rather high, but I just couldn't connect that well with it. 2 of 5 stars.

[Joop · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weer een liefdesdingetje van AC. Niet mijn ding en ook niet echt boeiend.

[Carole Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting short story with an amazing amount of complexity. Psychological, haunting, unexpected twists. Not sure I understood the ending, but enjoyed the story.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

No mystery here, just a short story about a weird love triangle between a painter, his wife and his daughter's godmother.
He hates Jane because she's too nice and kind to everyone, a people pleaser and a bit of a pushover. He loves his wife because she's like marble, white and filled with stillness. Even so, the portrait of his wife is void of feeling and Jane's portairtis full of life.
When Jane dies, he learns that she was sending añl her money to his wife so she can buy jewelry and dresses, and in a way, buying his freedom. As long as she kept paying, he could focus on his art and not have to paint for money. When he confronts his wife, she admits that she needs luxury and she took advantage of the love Jane has for him, knowing how they both felt for each other and how he was never really hers. But now that Jane is gone, he finally can belong to her. He feels like he's finally succumbing to her suffocating nature. The end.

[Vin Vineeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A painter who worships his wife but despises his daughter's godmother, paints portraits of both women, accentuating his wife's beauty and the other woman's flaws. According to a critic, he did a better job with the second. He hates her though. She not so secretly loves him. Wife wishes for a life of more money, the godmother has loads of it. His feelings start shifting after a while too. A twisted love triangle with a bizarre end, which addresses the age old artist problem–love of creating or making money .

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read 2020

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The was an ok story by Agatha Christie. A story of love, revenge and extortion.

[Mert Köse · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story revolves around a painter, Edvard, his wife, and his old friend Jane, who is the godmother of his daughter. Edvard’s wife knows that Jane secretly loves Edvard. Using her love and Jane’s affection for their daughter as leverage, she is making money off of her. I didn’t really like the story. What is the genre of the story? It’s not exactly clear. Also, it feels like the story doesn’t reach any conclusion. It also seems like the story lacks a clear purpose.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story did not go the way I thought it would go and that is why I love Christie's work. There were so many change-ups in this short story, and those switches made me feel like I was reading a full-length novel. It moved from contemporary to romance and the ending was dark and gritty. This was a great read and showcased what Christie does best: catch a reader off guard.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This came up in the YT algorithm while I was listening to Sherlock and Poirot stories. I liked how different this one was, it's actually more literary for me than genre. It's unfortunately a timeless story with strong character studies. Not a fan of the title though, it reminds me too much of the Poe immurement.

[OutSideTheBoxox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book is simply fascinating. Agatha Christie has a way of seeing people and when she makes characters she really gives them emotions. If you haven't yet give Within The Wall a read I recommend it.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting.

[Aubrey Nekvinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spooky art history mystery! Not my favorite but I gave it an extra star for the art history references.

[Heather Culley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Creepy.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agatha's short stories are just as entertaining as her full-length mysteries. What a wonderful writer she is. :) I wasn't sure if I would like the short ones, but I did.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is gonna haunt me

[a ☕︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i hated this bc i hoped very much for an escape.

[sonataiscool · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are not going to have a job that pays surely your wife is allowed to get you money?

[Joyce Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different type of short story by Agatha Christie. Really must read more by her.

[Yannick Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listen to the Audiobook.
The story was ok.

[Aftersaudade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not a favorite but not too bad.

[Rolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A love triangle thriller with some fun elements.

[Susy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

[Jina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm , not sure I understand this one.