Unfinished Portrait (novel)

1934 novel by Agatha Christie

Unfinished Portrait is a semi autobiographical novel written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins in March 1934 and in the US by Doubleday later in the same year. The British edition retailed for seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. It is the second of six novels Christie wrote under the pen name Mary Westmacott.

In the midst of divorce, bereft of the only people in her life she cares for, Celia considers taking her life. But, while on an exotic island, Celia meets Larraby, a successful portrait painter, who spends a night talking with her, and learning her deepest fears. Larraby leaves Celia with the hope that he may be the one to help her come to terms with her past.

The Times Literary Supplement review of 12 April 1934 outlined the plot and stated that, "The artist who re tells Celia's story ends several sentences in every paragraph with dots, a mannerism that irritates; but we must forgive him, since, in the final chapter, he heals Celia's soul in one unpredictable instant." The New York Times Book Review of 9 December 1934 said of the plot construction of Celia telling Larraby her life history that, "This literary device seems artificial and unnecessary at first, but is effectively used in the ending." They concluded, "As a study of a shy, emotional nature, verging on the pathological, Unfinished Portrait is moderately well done. It is worth reading for its sympathetic – and sometimes very amusing – account of Celia's childhood. And in Celia's Grannie it introduces a grand old lady – an indomitable Victorian with a keen love of life, a fine hand for managing 'the men', and a gruesome interest in the final takings off of the many friends and relatives whom she survived."

As with all the Westmacott books, except Giant's Bread, this book carried no dedication.