The Lost Days of Agatha Christie: A Psychological Mystery

by Carole Owens, Wanda McCaddon

There was only one mystery Agatha Christie could not her own. Dame Agatha Christie is best known for her detective novels and short stories. She is one of the most popular authors of all time, her novels having sold over four billion copies and having been translated into 103 languages. On the evening of December 8, 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared from her home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, leaving only a note for her secretary indicating that she was going to Yorkshire. Despite a massive manhunt, she was not found for eleven days. On December 19, 1926, Agatha was identified as a guest at a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, where she was registered as Mrs. Teresa Neele of Cape Town. Christie would give no account of her actions. Why did she disappear? Seven decades after her disappearance, the New York Times called Agatha Christie Harrogate's "most famous nonresident." The mystery of her unexplained disappearance has never ceased to fascinate Christie fans and time has not diminished their desire to find a solution. In this psychological novel, Dr. Carole Owens, a practicing psychotherapist, takes on Agatha Christie as a patient to diagnose her problem and at long last solve the mystery of Christie's lost days.

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Audiobook, Biography, Nonfiction, Psychology, British Literature

Audio CD

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 3 out of 5]

ABOUT 'THE LOST DAYS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE': There was only one mystery Agatha Christie could not solve: her own. Why did she disappear in 1926? The New York Times, seven decades after her disappearance, identified Agatha Christie as the town s [Harrogate s] most famous non-resident. It is an indication that the mystery of the lost days has never ceased to fascinate Christie fans. Time has not diminished their desire to find a solution. In this psychological mystery, Dr. Carole Owens, a practicing psychotherapist, takes on Agatha Christie as a patient to diagnose her problem and at long last solve the mystery of The Lost Days of Agatha Christie.

MY THOUGHTS: The beginning of this book is rather slow as we meet the American psychotherapist who is giving an address to an audience in which he recalls his first ever case; that of Mrs Christie wanting to recover her memories of the eleven days she was missing.

It takes probably a third of this book before Mrs Christie (or Mallowen as she is at the time) makes an appearance, so be patient. The way the psychotherapist leads Mrs Christie on her journey of discovery is quite clever, though not exactly riveting. I did enjoy the frequent references to and comparisons between events in her own life and devices used in her books.

This is a quick book to listen to, but I didn't find it as interesting as I expected and nor did I feel particularly enlightened. Narrator Wanda McCadden did a wonderful job of the clipped English accent, and I enjoyed her performance.

⭐⭐.8

https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

THE AUTHOR: I am a retired doctor. I was a therapist for 31 years -- thus the basis for The Lost Days of Agatha Christie. After retiring I developed an interest in American History and started to research with a special interest in The Gilded Age and the women of the 18th and 19th centuries.

[TraceyL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Agatha Christie visits a fictional psychologist to try and find out what happened during the 11 days she went missing in 1926. She has no memory of the events. The doctor tries to get her to remember and a mystery unfolds.

I liked that the entire book is just two people sitting in a room and talking. The mystery was just OK. I wanted more.

[Karen ⊰✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is told by a fictional Oxford psychiatrist having an intensive therapy session with Christie. Although an interesting way to explore Christie's background and potential psychiatric explanations for her disappearance, I personally found it a difficult way to connect with the story.
I think I prefer the Doctor Who episode that gives an explanation for her disappearance ;)

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because not only am I a huge fan of Agatha Christie but I loved how this book analyzed her psychological aspects of when she went missing and why. I don't want to go into the why so I don't spoil the book but it did shock me. I highly recommend this book to everyone especially if you are like me and a lover of mysteries.

[Lizette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of the Agatha Christie books that I have read (which to be honest aren’t that many) but I’m also fascinated by her own misters and even though this is a work of fiction it was an amazing take on her lost eleven days!!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

In December, 1926, Agatha Christie, England's most popular novelist of the era, disappeared for eleven days. When she was finally located in a Harrogate hotel, she could not remember who she was, and was unable to identify her husband. She did finally recover her memory, but was never able to recall what she did during that mysterious interval, or indeed, why she even left home. In a novel reminiscent of Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, American psychotherapist Carole Owens imagines changing that outcome by placing Christie in an intensive, day long therapy session with a fictional Oxford psychiatrist. This plot device serves admirably as a way for the reader to learn about Christie's childhood, writing career, and first marriage, while the psychiatrist helps his patient explore some of the possible psychological ramifications of the memories that she describes. It also serves as a vehicle for gaining insight into some of the ways in which therapy can work. In addition to providing a very credible explanation of what might have caused Christie's strange experience, the book also paints a picture of early twentieth century life, its attitudes and expectations, among the minor English gentry. It's difficult to write a story containing only two main characters, but Owens did so with authority, style and elegance, making both doctor and patient very real and likable. Though the book is heavy on dialogue, she builds in enough suspense to make her book a page turner. It's a sleeper that deserves much wider readership, and it's interesting to discover how some of the features of Agatha's life might have influenced her creativity as an author.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satisfying answer to what Christie was doing during the time she was missing, with a somewhat tedious frame of a psychoanalytic session, with some uncertainty in the end. A lot of solution through hypnosis but overall interesting and entertaining.

[Selah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting combination of fact and speculation about the "Lost Days". Personally, I prefer the Doctor Who explanation. ;)

[ReadingMama · Rating 4 out of 5]

On 3-14 December 1926, for 11 days, one of the celebrated murder mystery writers, Agatha Christie disappeared. A nationwide search was proceeded including over 1000 policemen and many more volunteers to find her; and more importantly “Whodunit?” and “Why”. After all, this was the real case mystery~ When she was found at the local spa hotel, she had no recollection of who she was and what had happened to her.

In this book, Dr Carole Owens, a fictional Oxford psychotherapist peeled out this peculiar mystery one layer at a time, as she interviewed her with probing questions such as Christie’s childhood, family relationship, writing career, turbulent marriage with Archie Christie in the 20s setting, as a skillful therapist. I appreciate the art of therapy and how our intricate mind and memory interweave, probably the greatest mystery of all. It is brilliantly written and we, the audiences, become aware of the psychogenic amnesia and Agatha Christie's reactions and pro choice of her situations.

This is short book (little over 100 pages) and now I am ready for Agatha Christie’s autobiographical “Unfinished portrait” and much recent book “The mystery of Mrs. Christie” by Marie Benedict” + author’s facebook interview sponsored by the Barns and Noble.

[Amy Lavigne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting. It was not as thrilling as I thought it would be. I thought it would dive much more into conspiracy theories. A few different variations of this have come in the years since her death. I like others a lot better, for example, one where she was kidnapped by someone to prove he did not kill a certain person. Or that she was part of a mystery that later inspired one of her books. It was interesting though the approach the book took and how a different take on events could have explained everything. Although this book didn't seem to have much imagination to it. Any normal person could have simply assumed a reason for Agatha Christie's missing days (and it would be very close to the conclusion in this book).

I must say I did enjoy it being read to me, it seemed as if the doctor was talking right to me, retelling his tale at points. So I did enjoy that and that was well done. I don't think I would have that same appreciation if I had simply read the book on my own.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Famously, one of the greatest Christie mysteries is what she did for nearly two weeks when she was missing and was the subject of a nationwide manhunt. She doesn’t remember; even twenty years later.
The therapist and she take it as if it was one of her mysteries. They start with the facts and try to work it out together.
When that doesn’t work, they try hypnosis.
***
This was rather intriguing. We’ll never know the truth now, but the process and some of the facts make sense to me given the age of Christie, her upbringing, the recent death of her mother, and the news of her husband’s affair. He must have asked her for a divorce which she felt was him erasing her name; the name ON her books.
Success on the one hand with her two first book sales, and then devastation and heartbreak on the other. She literally checked out of her life.

The analyst promises not to tell anyone the real story until after her death.
4 stars

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have went into this too blindly, but don't pick up this book expecting a novel or even a proper narrative. I'm not even sure what to call it. 

I can't say anything negative about this text -- is it a book? -- it's just not for me. The audiobook was under 4 hours long and I was extremely bored. Again, that's not an inherant flaw. It just didn't hold any interest to me personally. I thought I would at least get something out of the character of Agatha Christie, but nothing really about her seemed overly characteristic. 

It's worth a shot it you're deeply interested in psychology. If not, maybe take a pass.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually don't read book descriptions before plunging into the story (more fun that way), but for some reason, I read the description before reading this book. It gave me the false expectation that I'd be reading a nonfiction analysis of facts and clues left behind by Agatha Christie. Instead, this book approached the issue with a fictional therapy session that lasted WAY too long. A single setting. A single conversation. I liked the author's idea. She's a decent writer, but the execution was lacking.

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I wanted more...

This is a part fiction part nonfiction discussion on why Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days in 1926. It takes the form of a fictional psychologist interviewing her to try to uncover the inner depth of her mind and reasoning. Some of this was really interesting, but its still just conjecture when you come down to it.

[Una Mamma che Legge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non l'ho trovato particolarmente sconvolgente ma sicuramente interessante per chi è affascinato dalla psicoanalisi e l'esplorazione della mente umana.
La teoria è effettivamente credibile e fa ritratto di A. C. molto "umano" e consono sono le sensazioni che avevo su di lei leggendo altro qua e là.
C'è da dire, però, che la teoria di Doctor Who rimane la mia preferita!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Agatha Christie books so this was a fascinating one for me. How can such a famous person have a period of time missing from their life? While this is a novel, I felt satisfied when I'd completed it, whether its accurate or not, Owens has done a fantastic job piecing fact together with fiction.

Definitely recommended to the curios reader.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

11 missing days from the world's most famous mystery writer. The possibilities for mystery and intrigue are endless... and the author treats it in the most boring, mundane way possible. I recommend reading "A Talent for Murder" by Andrew Wilson instead. It's bot perfect, but there the same subject is handled much more deftly.

[R Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fictional account of Agatha Christie going to a psychologist to try and uncover her lost memories of the time she went missing for 11 days. It is cleverly written and kept me captivated throughout and I found I could relate to some of it. Overall for me it chimed well in terms of what I associate of the late author’s character though of course I cannot know.

[KLB · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a very outdated, out of touch and insulting version of what is presented as a psychotherapy approach to cornering AC into the fears and recesses of her mind to reveal the why’s of her historical 11 day disappearance. Arrogance of the examiner is the main take away from what is labeled a historical fiction.

[Lee Imagina Sueña · Rating 3 out of 5]

La idea del libro es genial, tratar de descubrir lo que sucedió con Agatha Christie los 11 días de diciembre de 1926, el ocupar los métodos que ocupan los detectives de sus libros tambien es buena idea, pero creo que cae un poco en la exageración al tratar todo de esta forma

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had my doubts about the idea of a posthumous psychoanalysis of Christie, but, in fact, I found this novel immensely entertaining and witty, much in the same way as Christie's own books are. Not a bad analysis, either.

[Jlnpeacock Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Owens spent considerable time in researching the life of Agatha Christie in an attempt to unravel the mystery of the lost 11 days of Mrs. Christie's life. This is a fictional account and proves an interesting study.

[Laina Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author did a decent job conveying her imaginings of Christie’s disappearance in an interesting and brief way.
I didn’t know that 15,000 volunteers were looking for her in 1926; she must have been a dearly loved author even then.

[OutSideTheBoxox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting hypothesis for the disappearance of Agatha Christie. I think it is presented in a well written and engaging way. I think this is a good solution that honestly I had never thought about. It is worth a read if you are interested in the mystery of Agtha disappearance.

[Ana Urban · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook. I thought it was going to be nonfiction, but it was a fictionalized account of when Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. It was okay but I probably would have enjoyed more had I just read it.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting to listen to while reading an Agatha Christie novel! Definitely makes for an intriguing look into a masterful mind of the classic mystery novelist.

[Alexis Colton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long considering how short it was

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and fun fictitious account of what may have happened during the 11 days that Agatha Christie disappeared.

[refgoddess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A psychological fiction, purporting to be an analysis and solution of Christie's "lost days." It's an interesting premise, if a bit simplistically presented.

[Alysia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on Audiobook. Written by a psychologist this is an interesting premise that explains the "lost days".