Agatha Christie - “An Elusive Woman”
.. A novel by Lucy Worsley – “One brilliant woman writing about another: an irresistible combination”- Antonia Fraser, New York Times best-selling author.
Before I begin my review of this book, I would like to give some background information of Lucy Worsley. Ms. Worsley, OBE (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire- reward for her contributions to the arts)- is the Chief Curator at the charity Historic Royal Palaces. She also presents documentaries of history for PBS and the BBC. Her bestselling books include The art of the English Murder and If these Walls Could Talk.
I would like to preface this review by letting my mystery aficionados know that truth be told – Agatha Christie, in my humble opinion, was one of the best mystery writers- EVER! I have read just about every one of her books, seen several of the movies based on her novels, and wished I was able to have seen the play “The Mousetrap” on stage.
A couple of quotes that represent Ms. Christie’s dry wit and sense of humor:
“Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody”
“Very few of us are what we seem”
Now to the review of this book:
It is apparent from the onset of reading this book, that Ms. Worsley has spent a great deal of time doing her research. It begins with the Preface: Hiding in Plain Sight.
“Agatha Christie was sitting quietly on the train when she overheard a stranger saying her name.
In the same carriage, she said, were ‘two women discussing me, both with copies of my paperback editions on their knees” These ladies apparently had no idea of the true identity of their matronly, middle aged fellow passenger, and proceeded to discuss the most famous authors in the world. “I hear, said one of the ladies. ‘she drinks like a fish”
Ms. Worsley notes how much she loved this story as it sums up so much of Agatha Christie’s life.
Firstly, Ms. Christie shared this anecdote in an interview published in celebration of her eightieth birthday in 1970.
We, the readers, are provided with information on when and where Ms. Christie was born. Long story short- she was born Mary Clarrissa Agatha Miller on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, Devon, England.
She was born into a wealthy upper middle-class family in the late Victorian world. Her family had inherited wealth. However, due to certain events that would occur, all of this wealth would disappear, leaving Agatha to earn her own living.
This book is divided into 10 parts:
Part 1- Victorian Girl- 1890’s
Part 1 discusses Ms. Christie’s early childhood and her home that was called “Ashfield”- This house stood on a hill above the seaside resort of Torquay located in the south of Devon. It was a large Victorian villa situated in a garden full of tall trees.
In spite of all of her adventures that would come, this family home, long since demolished, would remain the most significant place in her life.
Ms. Christie would be born at home, the third child of Frederick and Clara Miller.
Agatha loved food – ‘especially cakes and creams” and playing the piano. She taught herself how to read and write by eight years of age and loved to read the books by noted authors that included Sir Walter Scott and Dickens.
This chapter goes over what was the ‘dirty secret at Ashfield, the “Thing in the House’ lurking behind the apparent prosperous life of the Miller family- the family was running out of money.
Part 2- Edwardian Debutante- 1900’s
Part 2 covers Agatha’s ‘coming of age ‘in the early 1900s. Agatha would later describe the philosophy she was brought up in: putting it into the simplest of terms “You were waiting for The Man, and when the man came, he would change your entire life”
Agatha would go to Paris, to finishing schools and to improve playing the piano. Unfortunately, Agatha did not possess the showmanship- so the piano was a dead end.
Then, we find Agatha, as a debutante in Cairo, Egypt. She would go to many parties and ballroom dances dressed in beautiful gowns. It was during her stay in Cairo, where she would write her first novel – a satire about Britishers abroad.
On October 12, 1912- Agatha, now twenty-two years of age, met the man she would eventually marry- Archibald Christie, twenty-three years old, a British Army pilot. He and Agatha would marry on Christmas Eve, 1914.
Part 3-Wartime Nurse – 1914-1918
During the early months of 1914- While Archie is in France, during the Great War, Agatha begins working as an unpaid hospital volunteer for the Red Cross.
While Archibald “Archie” is in France, Agatha resumed her writing. It was during this time, that Agatha would learn about various poisons, as she would study for the Apothecaries Hall Assistance Exam. Many of the poisons would be used as the manner of death in several of her murder mysteries. Please note- of the sixty-six detective novels, Ms. Christie would go on to write- forty-one feature an attempted murder, a murder or suicide achieved through poison- wow!!
In this part- Ms. Worsley provides us with how Hercule Poirot, the Belgian Detective, was imagined.
Part 4- Bright Young Author- 1920’s
In 1918- We find that Archie Christie is now back in London and in September, Agatha came to London to join him. Although the couple had been married for four years, they had never actually lived together. Essentially, this was the start of Agatha’s life as a wife.
Even though Mrs. Christie would start courses in typing and bookkeeping, she would do her best to focus on being a housewife. Agatha also learned to cook, there was not enough money to hire a servant.
In 1919- we are to find out that Archie and Agatha welcomed the birth Rosalind in August. Rosalind would be their only child. The Christies would eventually have the financial means to hire a nurse and a maid.
Shortly after Rosalind’s birth- Agatha would receive a letter from the eminent publisher- Mr. John Lane. He would request that Agatha call upon him at his office.
Mr. Lane had read the novel by Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Although it had been rejected by six other publishers, Mr. Lane had commissioned some expert readers to review the manuscript and the consensus was that it ‘was very likely to sell” Mr. Lane requested some rewriting .. but he agreed to publish it!
The Christies were to embark on a holiday that would take them to Wembly and also to South Africa- Ms. Christie would write her second novel- The Secret Adversary during this time.
Also- during the early 1920’s- Agatha would write a series of “thrillers” featuring Tommy and Prudence “Tuppence” Beresford.
Agatha Christie would then re-introduce the little retired Belgian Detective – Hercule Poirot in The Murder on the Links. We, the readers, find out that Captain Hastings, the sidekick of Poirot – was, in Agatha’s mind- becoming a “bore”- so she devised a way to get rid of him. In reality, Capt. Hastings only looms large in people’s minds today due to his prominence in the 1980-1990 TV adaptations of the Poirot stories.
Part 5- 1926
In 1926, the Christies moved to another new home- this time in Sunnydale, Berkshire. Agatha is now a very successful authoress and is now in her later thirties. It was during this time that Archie spent a great deal of time playing golf, a sport that Agatha was not good at and found herself a “golf widow”
In the Summer of 1926- Agatha Christie wrote the novel “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”- This would become one of her very best books, it is considered one of the greatest detective novels of all time. I myself have read this book at least two or three times and I wholeheartedly agree. Believe me, I did not guess the ending- one of her clever plot twists. Truly brilliant.
Toward the end of 1926, Agatha would lose her mother. She would also find out that her husband, Archie, had fallen in love with another woman- one Nancy Neel.
In December of 1926- Agatha Christie would go missing for 10 days. In Ms. Worley’s book, she provides the readers what supposedly happened during the ten-day period. In keeping with Agatha’s mysterious novels, her disappearance was a mystery in itself.
Part 6– Plutocratic Period- 1930’s
In 1928, Agatha and Archibald Christie divorced. Their divorce was finalized on October 29, 1928. A week later, Archie married Nancy Neele.
Agatha would send their daughter Rosalind to a boarding school in Bexhill. She herself would go to a place called Ur, near Bagdad, where amazing archaeological discoveries were being made, she would go by train, The Orient Express- yes- THAT Orient Express- which would eventually be the backdrop of Murder on the Orient Express.
In the Spring of 1930- Agatha would meet a young archaeologist named Max Malloran, fifteen years her junior.
In April of 1930, Max would ask Agatha to marry him- and she would accept. I am sure that during the times they lived in- this perhaps might have been considered quite scandalous- but – apparently the love they felt for each other was genuine.
Part 7- The Wartime Worker- 1940’s
In the autumn of 1941, Agatha once again was working in a wartime hospital pharmacy. The worst months of the Blitz were almost over. London was hit very hard by the Germans in WWII.
After her workday ended, she would write- and she did war work as evidenced in the novel- “N or M?”- this novel featured spying, wartime paranoia and most famously served to mock the Nazis.
In the 1940’s Agatha would lose her beloved dog- Peter- who served as the inspiration of the novel- Dumb Witness. She would also write some of her most brilliantly written books that would include: The Moving Finger and the Body in the Library.
Also-in 1940- her daughter Rosalind, would marry Hubert de Burgh Prichard. This chapter covers Rosalind, the daughter of one of the most famous authors and how she perceived their mother -daughter relationship. It is worth noting that I would suspect being a child of anyone as famous as Agatha Christie- would present enormous issues. I would deduce that Rosalind and Agatha undoubtedly had a very complicated relationship.
Part Eight- Taken at the Flood- 1950’s
On April 30, 1945- Hitler commits suicide in Berlin. WWII is over. Max returns home and the Mallorans would move gently into the post war period.
Agatha is now in her mid-fifties and desires to re-invent herself. Agatha decides her next creative project is not a novel- it will be a house- Thus- Greenway was redesigned – it would have a beautiful and lovely garden. Then, she went back to writing her novels to pay for it all.
In 1951, Agatha would write one of her most successful novels- They Came to Bagdad. This book was considered more of a thriller, rather than a detective novel. Ms. Worsley notes “the interesting thing about this book is its new awareness of the fragility of Britain’s presence in Iraq”
In the 1950’s Agatha was also funding some of Max’s famous archaeological digs. Most famous was the discoveries at Nimrud -of wood and ivory writing boards. Agatha, herself was present at many of the digs.
Agatha would use her house- Greenway – as the site of two of her novels- Five Little Pigs and Dead Man’s Folly. It seems that Agatha frequently used personal inspirations when writing her books.
Part 9- Not Swinging – 1960’s.
In the 1960’s – Agatha Christies works would reach people – more than ever- in the medium of film.
Her agent, a man named Edmund Cork, decided to sell the rights to forty of Agatha’s storis to MGM. At first, Agatha was a bit reluctant and had some reservations about the arrangement, but in the end, Agatha acquiesced after the producer and his wife came and stayed at Greenway.
The first film was called Murder She Said based on the novel 4:50 from Paddington and it featured the actress, Margaret Rutherford as dear Miss Marple. Unfortunately, Ms. Christie did not like the film as she felt Ms. Marple should not be played by a comedienne. Ms. Worsley carefully details the disappointment felt by Ms. Christie in several of the movies made by MGM as Ms. Rutherford as Miss Marple.
Part 10-Curtain
In September of 1970- Agatha Christie turned eighty years of age. Her long time publisher, Billy Collins would throw an extravagant birthday party for her in London. Agatha would attend- wearing a feathered hat, cat’s eyeglasses and two strands of pearls.
In New Year of 1971- it was announced that Queen Elizabeth was to make Agatha a Dame Commander of the British Empire- “Dame Agatha”
In her final home- “Winterbrook” Agatha Christie would die on January 12, 1976.She was 85 years of age. On the night she died, the lights were dimmed in two West End theaters to mark her passing. The casts of both Murder at the Vicarage and The Mousetrap paid their respects to Ms. Christie from the stage and “the audience stood in silent tribute”
I would like to commend Ms. Lucy Worsley’s outstanding account of the life of Agatha Christie. I believe it was thoroughly researched and gave an honest depiction of Agatha’s life from birth to her death. I would recommend this book to anyone – especially those that adore all of the novels written by Agatha Christie “The Queen of Crime”
I am giving this book 5 stars- well worth reading cover to cover.
My next review will be on one of Ms. Christie’s books- in keeping with October and Halloween-
The book is “Hallowe’en Party”- a Hercule Poirot Mystery….. “I saw a murder once.. I didn’t know it was a murder at the time..” uttered by a young girl at a Halloween party.. and then she is found dead…..stay tuned my murder mystery buffs .. Susan B.
