''A Daughter's a Daughter'' is a novel written by

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

and first published in the UK by Heinemann on 24 November 1952. Initially unpublished in the US, it was later issued as a paperback by

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

in September 1963. It was the fifth of six novels Christie wrote under the nom-de-plume Mary Westmacott. Initially a play written by Christie in the late 1930s, the plot tells of a daughter's opposition to her mother's plan to remarry. Christie tried to interest Peter Saunders, later the producer of ''

The Mousetrap ''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The play opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemi ...

'', in the play in 1950. He suggested amendments to update some of the references, which were now twenty years old, and tried the play out at the

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

where it opened on 9 July 1956 and ran for one week and eight performances. It was billed under the ''Westmacott'' name, but Westmacott's true identity had been public knowledge since 1949, and the publicity surrounding a new Agatha Christie play resulted in good attendance figures. Saunders however felt it would not survive in the West End and Christie didn't pursue the matter further. Morgan, Janet. ''Agatha Christie, A Biography''. (pp. 286–287) Collins, 1984 Following Christie's death, the copyright for the play was owned by her daughter,

Rosalind Hicks Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Hicks (formerly Prichard, née Christie; 5 August 1919 – 28 October 2004) was the only child of author Agatha Christie. Biography Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Christie was born on 5 August, 1919 in her grandmother's ...

, who was unenthusiastic about the play as it was believed that the main character was based on her. Following Hicks' death in 2004, a new production of the play, starring

Jenny Seagrove Jennifer Ann Seagrove (born 4 July 1957) is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's '' A Woman of Substance'' ...

and

Honeysuckle Weeks Honeysuckle Susan Weeks (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series '' Foyle's War''. Early life Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan ...

and produced by

Bill Kenwright William Kenwright (4 September 1945 – 23 October 2023) was an English theatre and film producer. He was also the chairman of Everton Football Club for nearly two decades, from 2004 until his death in 2023. Early life Kenwright was born in ...

, was to open in London's West End on 14 December 2009. Kenwright described the play as "brutal and incredibly honest" and "It's a good enough play to stand up without the Christie brand. It's quite a tough play. It is a substantial night at the theatre."

Publication history

* 1952, Heinemann (London), 24 November 1952, Hardback, 200 pp * 1963, Dell Books (New York), September 1963, Paperback, 191 pp * 1972,

Arbor House Arbor House was an independent publishing house founded by Donald Fine in 1969. Specializing in hardcover publications, Arbor House published works by Hortense Calisher, Ken Follett, Cynthia Freeman, Elmore Leonard and Irwin Shaw before being ...

(New York), Hardback, 191 pp * 1978, Ulverscroft

Large-print Large-print (also large-type or large-font) refers to the formatting of a book or other text document in which the font size is considerably larger than usual to accommodate people who have low vision. Frequently the Recording medium, medium is al ...

Edition, Hardcover, 334 pp * 1986, Fontana Books (Imprint of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

), Paperback

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daughters A Daughter, A 1952 British novels Novels by Agatha Christie Plays by Agatha Christie 1930s plays Works published under a pseudonym Heinemann (publisher) books