Maybe I am the one at fault here. I came into The Hollow with a bias and its coloring my reaction. At the same time the social tension in the work and how these men are oblivious to all the effort these women engage in for their comfort is so EXHAUSTING

The novel starts with such a strong comedic chapter about a highly intelligent woman plotting the weekend too

Then it gets bogged down in how this very intelligent and successful man is oblivious to the feelings and motives of people and he seems to not interrogate his own behavior

I do believe the unsubstantiated rumors that The Hollow was meant to be a Westmacott novel. It reads more like a Westmacott. But it is interesting for a novel published in 1946 to see Christie pointing out how these successful powerful men are supported and defined by all the women in their life and how they cant admit that and have to denigrate the work of women around them