Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

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Agatha’s mysteries do little for me; I am not a reader of either thrillers or detective novels. In my view, the writing here in this autobiography is much, much better. It absolutely sparkles. Even when Agatha discusses how her books came to be, books I have not even read, I was captivated. She supplies small, interesting, amusing details that often make you smile. You need not be a fan of Agatha’s mysteries to enjoy this book. About Agatha Christie". Agatha Christie Ltd. 2020. Archived from the original on 7 December 2015 . Retrieved 29 April 2020. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. Christie's autobiography makes no reference to the disappearance. [12] Two doctors diagnosed her with "an unquestionable genuine loss of memory", [49] [50] yet opinion remains divided over the reason for her disappearance. Some, including her biographer Morgan, believe she disappeared during a fugue state. [4] :154–59 [40] [51] The author Jared Cade concluded that Christie planned the event to embarrass her husband but did not anticipate the resulting public melodrama. [52] :121 Christie biographer Laura Thompson provides an alternative view that Christie disappeared during a nervous breakdown, conscious of her actions but not in emotional control of herself. [14] :220–21 Public reaction at the time was largely negative, supposing a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for murder. [53] [e] Second marriage and later life: 1927–1976 [ edit ] Christie's room at the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, where the hotel claims she wrote her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express

Christie and Mallowan first lived in Cresswell Place in Chelsea, and later in Sheffield Terrace, Holland Park, Kensington. Both properties are now marked by blue plaques. In 1934, they bought Winterbrook House in Winterbrook, a hamlet near Wallingford. [61] This was their main residence for the rest of their lives and the place where Christie did much of her writing. [14] :365 This house also bears a blue plaque. Christie led a quiet life despite being known in Wallingford; from 1951 to 1976 she served as president of the local amateur dramatic society. [62]People never stop writing to me nowadays to suggest that Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot should meet – but why should they? I am sure they would not enjoy it at all. Hercule Poirot, the complete egoist, would not like being taught his business by an elderly spinster lady."

As Michael C. Gerald puts it, her "activities as a hospital dispenser during both World Wars not only supported the war effort but also provided her with an appreciation of drugs as therapeutic agents and poisons ... These hospital experiences were also likely responsible for the prominent role physicians, nurses, and pharmacists play in her stories." [124] :viii There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others. [124] a b Marriage Register. St Peter's Church, Bayswater [Notting Hill], Middlesex, 1878, No. 399, p. 200. Thallium poisoning in fact and in fiction". The Pharmaceutical Journal. 277: 648. 25 November 2006. Archived from the original on 6 September 2019 . Retrieved 6 September 2019.

Christie's authorised biographer includes an account of specialist psychiatric treatment following Christie's disappearance, but the information was obtained second or third hand after her death. [4] :148–49,159 Lask, Thomas (6 August 1975). "Hercule Poirot Is Dead; Famed Belgian Detective". The New York Times. US. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017 . Retrieved 16 October 2020.