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Agatha Christie e il mistero della sua scomparsa
E se la più grande scrittrice di gialli di tutti i tempi diventasse protagonista di una sua storia? È il dicembre del 1926. Una donna scompare in circostanze enigmatiche. La polizia trova la sua macchina abbandonata. Tutto fa pensare a un omicidio o, peggio, a un suicidio. Si aprono le indagini; la polizia e la stampa si mobilitano. Tutta l'Inghilterra è in fibrillazione. Quella donna è Agatha Christie. La scrittrice inglese più tradotta al mondo. Cosa è accaduto veramente? Perché si sono perse le tracce di Agatha? C'è davvero di mezzo un assassinio? Una trama complicata mette in gioco un tradimento, una vendetta, un'improvvisa, angosciante amnesia. Jared Cade, in questo libro appassionante come una detective-story, risolve il mistero grazie a testimonianze di prima.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
April 8, 2017
Although this book is titled, “Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days,” the author is unable to really create a great deal of suspense, or mystery, about the actual events of Agatha Christie’s disappearance in 1926. Therefore, what follows is really a biography which omits her very early life, and the way that those eleven days came to haunt Christie, who hated any mention of what happened around a time which was deeply upsetting and traumatic for her.
When Agatha Christie disappeared in December 1926, she had just published her sixth novel, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” but was not yet a household name. Although her writing career was turning her into a rising star (one of the reasons why her disappearance was suggested as a publicity stunt), this was not a happy time for her. She should have been relishing success, but her beloved mother had recently died and her husband, Colonel Archibald Christie, had confessed that he was in love with another woman – Nancy Neele.
Christie had witnessed her parents lifelong, happy and contented marriage, and had assumed she would experience the same. She was desperately in love with Archie, but the two struggled financially and, when Agatha began to earn more than he did, it caused problems between them. Her success overshadowed his attempts to find a successful career and he taunted her, unkindly, about gaining weight after the birth of their daughter, Rosalind. Although Agatha tried to keep her marriage together, when she realised it was over, she drove away from their house and vanished for eleven days – causing a huge manhunt and press speculation which caused her huge distress.
In all honesty, it is hard to see this as more than the desperate attempt of a deeply hurt woman, who certainly did not expect the situation to get as out of hand as it did. I will state here that Agatha Christie is my favourite author ever and I found myself bizarrely wounded on her behalf, as I read so much of this book. Her daughter seemed often to be callous and uncaring about her; blaming her unfairly for the divorce of her parents, making hurtful remarks, and, even though she later found happiness again with Max Mallowan, this marriage was also not without its share of troubles.
This book is a rather straightforward account, but it does keep the theme of the book centre stage as much as possible; with books and stories dissected to reveal possible mentions of the disappearance, of the influence of people close to Agatha Christie as characters. Christie was certainly not a perfect person, but nobody is; she suffered agonies of jealousy, she was controlling at times (although she learnt from her mistakes), but she was also often taken for granted by her family, felt nervous about being photographed or interviewed and was obviously deeply hurt by the failure of her first marriage. I am glad I read this book and feel sure that Christie would be proud if she knew how her work has stood the test of time.
April 16, 2012
I don't know if I can convey how much I disliked this book. I love Agatha Christie's books. So when I heard about her real life mysterious disappearance and that there was a non-fiction accounting of it, I couldn't wait to read it. Unfortunately, this is one of the most disorganized books I have read in ages. For example, on page 122, after multiple mentions of the Harrogate Hydro, the author writes this is the nickname for the Harrogate Hydropathic Hotel. That kind of information is crucial to understanding the narrative and yet, Cade typically delays explanation until later or, often, does not explain such facts at all! Further, Cade often interjects his own interpretation of events, such as page 277 when he suggests Agatha cut off her hair "in preparation for meeting God". Although he readily admits this is his own suggestion, it is presented as if it is a well-supported fact, when in actuality is based on Cade's own opinions. He even concludes the book by suggesting that the entire disappearance was never discussed by Christie because "she did not want our [the readers'] pity" (314). Again this is completely unsupported opinion. In all, don't waste your time on this garbage. You can get just as much from reading the wikipedia entry on her disappearance. I not only want to money back I spent on this book, but the time I wasted reading it!
November 28, 2020
Tot ce citesc scris de și despre Agatha Christie mă fascinează oricând. Dincolo de dezvăluirea cauzelor faimoasei dispariții, Agatha Christie: Misterul celor 11 zile oferă multe detalii semnificative din viața scriitoarei. Poate fi comparată cu o biografie, dar de dimensiuni mai mici.
"Imaginea prezentată publicului, în primele zile ale căutărilor, a fost cea a unei scriitoare frumoase și inteligente, cu o căsnicie fericită alături de un chipeș și elegant erou de război. Era, însă, o imagine falsă, menită să se risipească pe măsură ce poliția și presa se întreceau să readucă împreună cuplul."
"Fiecare om caută un singur lucru, iubirea perfectă, eternă și tânjim, cu toții, după muzica Arlechinului, protectorul îndrăgostiților. Nicio iubire nu te poate împlini pe deplin, deoarece toți iubiții sunt muritori. Iar Arlechinul nu este decât un mit, o prezență invizibilă - dacă nu cumva, adăuga ea, numele său era moarte. Aleea Harlequin exprimă perfect romantismul incurabil al Agathei."
"Imaginea prezentată publicului, în primele zile ale căutărilor, a fost cea a unei scriitoare frumoase și inteligente, cu o căsnicie fericită alături de un chipeș și elegant erou de război. Era, însă, o imagine falsă, menită să se risipească pe măsură ce poliția și presa se întreceau să readucă împreună cuplul."
"Fiecare om caută un singur lucru, iubirea perfectă, eternă și tânjim, cu toții, după muzica Arlechinului, protectorul îndrăgostiților. Nicio iubire nu te poate împlini pe deplin, deoarece toți iubiții sunt muritori. Iar Arlechinul nu este decât un mit, o prezență invizibilă - dacă nu cumva, adăuga ea, numele său era moarte. Aleea Harlequin exprimă perfect romantismul incurabil al Agathei."
December 26, 2023
In December 1926 the celebrated crime writer Agatha Christie disappeared from her home in Berkshire and later her car was found abandoned with some of her effects inside just off the A25 Dorking Road.
The story made front page news and the Surrey and Berkshire police employed any number of officers, assisted on occasions by the public, in an attempt to locate her. They concentrated on the area around where the car had been found and privately some officers felt that she had been murdered.
With that last thought in mind her husband, Archie Christie, came under scrutiny because the couple were having some problems in their marriage because of Archie's dalliance with a young lady named Nancy Neele. But he seemed to have an unbreakable alibi so attention was directed elsewhere.
After Agatha had been missing for 11 days information was passed to the police that a lady staying at the Harrogate Hydro strongly resembled the missing person. The police, accompanied by Archie, duly visited the Hydro and, surreptitiously, she was identified. Reconciliation of a kind took place but it was not to last, for divorce followed and Archie in time married Nancy.
Agatha and her advisors, including doctors and publishers, gave various accounts of why she had gone missing and amnesia was put forward as the likely reason. But this was not totally accepted by the medical profession and many people thought that she had done it to further her writing career. Indeed, the incident did no harm to her future popularity.
In his meticulously researched book, Jared Cade has unearthed new evidence, including accounts by Agatha's relatives, that go some way to revealing why she staged her disappearance with the help of a close lady friend, Nan Kon (nee Watts). Agatha rarely spoke of the incident thereafter and she omitted any detailed reference to it in her posthumously published autobiography.
As the book covers not only her 11 days missing but her overall writing career, particularly thereafter, this insightful biography provides a definitive key to Agatha's life and works.
The story made front page news and the Surrey and Berkshire police employed any number of officers, assisted on occasions by the public, in an attempt to locate her. They concentrated on the area around where the car had been found and privately some officers felt that she had been murdered.
With that last thought in mind her husband, Archie Christie, came under scrutiny because the couple were having some problems in their marriage because of Archie's dalliance with a young lady named Nancy Neele. But he seemed to have an unbreakable alibi so attention was directed elsewhere.
After Agatha had been missing for 11 days information was passed to the police that a lady staying at the Harrogate Hydro strongly resembled the missing person. The police, accompanied by Archie, duly visited the Hydro and, surreptitiously, she was identified. Reconciliation of a kind took place but it was not to last, for divorce followed and Archie in time married Nancy.
Agatha and her advisors, including doctors and publishers, gave various accounts of why she had gone missing and amnesia was put forward as the likely reason. But this was not totally accepted by the medical profession and many people thought that she had done it to further her writing career. Indeed, the incident did no harm to her future popularity.
In his meticulously researched book, Jared Cade has unearthed new evidence, including accounts by Agatha's relatives, that go some way to revealing why she staged her disappearance with the help of a close lady friend, Nan Kon (nee Watts). Agatha rarely spoke of the incident thereafter and she omitted any detailed reference to it in her posthumously published autobiography.
As the book covers not only her 11 days missing but her overall writing career, particularly thereafter, this insightful biography provides a definitive key to Agatha's life and works.
January 5, 2015
Jared Cade may well be an "acknowledged expert on Christiana", but unfortunately he has absorbed none of Christie's narrative skill or clarity during his readings.
While there are some interesting details about the eponymous "11 missing days", the majority of the book is a boring list of events in the life of Agatha Christie which have not been organised into any kind of narrative. Worse, the book is repetitive to a ridiculous degree and, towards the end, just recounts summaries of Christie's Mary Westmacott novels, as if these will serve to furnish us with an insight into Christie's mindset.
In all, Cade's biography paints a very unflattering and unsympathetic portrait of the great writer - she comes across as vain, immature, selfish and insecure. There is nothing here that looks into her writing practice and talent, which is a great shame: presumably Cade does not have the literary eye to take such a perspective on his heroine.
While there are some interesting details about the eponymous "11 missing days", the majority of the book is a boring list of events in the life of Agatha Christie which have not been organised into any kind of narrative. Worse, the book is repetitive to a ridiculous degree and, towards the end, just recounts summaries of Christie's Mary Westmacott novels, as if these will serve to furnish us with an insight into Christie's mindset.
In all, Cade's biography paints a very unflattering and unsympathetic portrait of the great writer - she comes across as vain, immature, selfish and insecure. There is nothing here that looks into her writing practice and talent, which is a great shame: presumably Cade does not have the literary eye to take such a perspective on his heroine.
April 5, 2017
This review is subject to updating if and when I actually finish the book.
I was interested to read this book but so far find the writing choppy and disorganised. Cade claims to have been given "exclusive access" to family correspondence and documents. Does this mean he quotes from those sources, or at least provides footnotes citing sources of his statements? It does not. He bases his claim to "exclusive access" on the fact that he has read everything Christie ever wrote, and apparently her surviving family members (even her ex-husband's relatives) were so impressed by his "exhaustive" knowledge of her work that they welcomed him with open arms. So he says. But does he even provide direct quotes from interviews with these people? He does not.
I have suspended my reading of the book a) because I find myself picking holes due to annoyance and b) he has already written a HUGE spoiler of one of Christie's short stories. He just naturally assumes that nobody reads her stuff, or that they've already read it, or something. As I am currently reading Miss Marple and Mystery: Over 50 Stories on and off, I have no desire to have the experience ruined for me. Fortunately I had already read "The Edge", the story that he just basically ruins for anyone who hasn't read it. Other GR reviewers state that the second half of the book is just basically one big ol' spoiler after another.
That in itself would be a starkiller for me. Cade's horrible narrative "style" and misuse of the language makes it a two-star, edging toward one and a half. On p36, Cade states that "The pilots were offering members of the public five pounds to go flying with them." That sounds like they were willing to pay people to go up, doesn't it? Because when you offer someone money, that's what it means. Not in Cade's world. Next sentence: "Agatha begged Clarissa to pay the fee so she could take her first airplane flight."
Ohhhh. So what Cade meant was they were offering flights to the public for five pounds! Totally different thing.
"Agatha would physically throw objects at Archie."--I guess her telekinetic powers weren't up to much? Because unless you can move objects with your mind, "physically" is the only way to throw anything, anywhere. At another point he has Christie "issue" an hysterical laugh. Really? In print, was it?
I may come back to this when I've read and enjoyed Christie's works that I haven't had a chance to read yet. I am not willing to have them spoiled by some unknown author who just assumes that of course we've all read them before we get to his "wonderful" book.
I was interested to read this book but so far find the writing choppy and disorganised. Cade claims to have been given "exclusive access" to family correspondence and documents. Does this mean he quotes from those sources, or at least provides footnotes citing sources of his statements? It does not. He bases his claim to "exclusive access" on the fact that he has read everything Christie ever wrote, and apparently her surviving family members (even her ex-husband's relatives) were so impressed by his "exhaustive" knowledge of her work that they welcomed him with open arms. So he says. But does he even provide direct quotes from interviews with these people? He does not.
I have suspended my reading of the book a) because I find myself picking holes due to annoyance and b) he has already written a HUGE spoiler of one of Christie's short stories. He just naturally assumes that nobody reads her stuff, or that they've already read it, or something. As I am currently reading Miss Marple and Mystery: Over 50 Stories on and off, I have no desire to have the experience ruined for me. Fortunately I had already read "The Edge", the story that he just basically ruins for anyone who hasn't read it. Other GR reviewers state that the second half of the book is just basically one big ol' spoiler after another.
That in itself would be a starkiller for me. Cade's horrible narrative "style" and misuse of the language makes it a two-star, edging toward one and a half. On p36, Cade states that "The pilots were offering members of the public five pounds to go flying with them." That sounds like they were willing to pay people to go up, doesn't it? Because when you offer someone money, that's what it means. Not in Cade's world. Next sentence: "Agatha begged Clarissa to pay the fee so she could take her first airplane flight."
Ohhhh. So what Cade meant was they were offering flights to the public for five pounds! Totally different thing.
"Agatha would physically throw objects at Archie."--I guess her telekinetic powers weren't up to much? Because unless you can move objects with your mind, "physically" is the only way to throw anything, anywhere. At another point he has Christie "issue" an hysterical laugh. Really? In print, was it?
I may come back to this when I've read and enjoyed Christie's works that I haven't had a chance to read yet. I am not willing to have them spoiled by some unknown author who just assumes that of course we've all read them before we get to his "wonderful" book.
February 18, 2013
For the fan that really REALLY wants to know what happened to the 'eleven missing days' this is an interesting read. But be warned: this is a book that is NOT written by a natural writer and even though it is narrated competently up through the disappearance it then bizarrely loses focus and becomes a compendium of the author's last years and plot summaries of her Mary W. novels (point being that I think the author believes it is these 'romance' novels that Christie laid out many of the psychological motivations behind the disappearance) The book is very disorganized in the latter half. Christie led a very long life with many ups and downs and this seems to give the author trouble. He seems bent on telling every anecdote he has been trusted with from the Gardner family (in laws of Christie) even if it doesn't fit into his own characterizations of Christie and her relationships. The whole thesis of 'the disappearance affected her the rest of her life' could have been laid out and supported in one final chapter after the disappearance chapter. All the other details should have been either written as a proper biography or shaped to fit the thesis of the book in which the eleven missing days was supposed to be the central event of her life.
June 12, 2016
This book is Jared Cade's theory of the reasons behind Agatha Christie's disappearance for eleven days in December of 1926. Christie never reveled anything about the disappearance, even after her death. So this is pure speculation on Cade's part, and I don't buy it! I don't believe in the accident/amnesia/suicide attempt theory. I believe she was a woman deeply hurt by her husband's betrayal. I believe she wanted to scare him with the possibility of her death...the "you'll be sorry" approach. She and her friend, Nan, were always pranksters. So Agatha concocted the plan and Nan helped her to impliment it. Agatha staged the accident, stayed the night with Nan, then proceeded to the Harrogate Hydro to hide out and try to forget her problems of the moment. The length of time was probably more than planned because of the public furor over her disappearance. I believe that after she was discovered, she felt embarrassed by her childish prank and was determined to put it behind her, and never speak of it again! I gave it only two stars because I thought it was just okay, but it did make me want to reread some of her books, and to read more that I haven't read before.
November 10, 2016
This is a most fascinating book about what happened to Agatha Christie when she was missing for eleven days. It is very well written and appears to be very well researched. It was full of amazing and interesting facts about Agatha Christie and about her most unusual life. I have always wondered whether she really did have amnesia while she was missing; but the real facts are much more interesting!
April 6, 2016
I have always been fascinated by the 11 days that Agatha Christie came up missing, and this book answers my questions in a manner that none of the other biographies of Dame Christie have never been able to do.
Read
May 16, 2014(A book about when she faked her death and tried to get the cops to blame it on her cheating husband. It didn't work out that well.)
December 19, 2016
This book should have been called Agatha Christie's Whole Damn Life in Tedious, Superfluous Detail.
October 11, 2017
Started reading this book unsure of what to expect but glad I did. This is where agatha Christie disappears for a while and what she went though in her life.
July 22, 2018
The book claims to be ‘a gripping detective story’ (Harpers and Queen) based on the events surrounding Agatha Christie’s disappearance for 11 days in late 1926.
Whilst I did not know anything about this disappearance or had ever previously heard of it. I found the book lacking in many aspects. Cade’s writing did not grip me or lure me to read on. I had to force myself to finish the book, hoping that the promised suspense would kick in at any moment. Unfortunately it did not. On the contrary I found it rather boring with Cade making assumptions on Agatha’s inner life, which he certainly could guess at through his various interviews with close friends and relatives but by no means know. He seemed to tell the reader that his take was the only valid one and he went so far as to discredit other biographies or books about the missing days. This seemed very bad form and whilst he may have been right, I do not think it had a place in a book that was supposedly only about the missing days but ended up retelling Agatha’s life story as he learned it through his research. Also I found that he does not give his readers any credit to draw their own conclusions by presenting just the facts as he found them. In contrast he constantly volunteered his own opinion and elaborated on that far too much for my liking.
It’s a shame as I was looking forward to learn more about this mystery but ended up dreading the read.
Whilst I did not know anything about this disappearance or had ever previously heard of it. I found the book lacking in many aspects. Cade’s writing did not grip me or lure me to read on. I had to force myself to finish the book, hoping that the promised suspense would kick in at any moment. Unfortunately it did not. On the contrary I found it rather boring with Cade making assumptions on Agatha’s inner life, which he certainly could guess at through his various interviews with close friends and relatives but by no means know. He seemed to tell the reader that his take was the only valid one and he went so far as to discredit other biographies or books about the missing days. This seemed very bad form and whilst he may have been right, I do not think it had a place in a book that was supposedly only about the missing days but ended up retelling Agatha’s life story as he learned it through his research. Also I found that he does not give his readers any credit to draw their own conclusions by presenting just the facts as he found them. In contrast he constantly volunteered his own opinion and elaborated on that far too much for my liking.
It’s a shame as I was looking forward to learn more about this mystery but ended up dreading the read.
May 4, 2017
Agatha Christie disappeared on the night of December 3, 1926, and her car was found on the edge of a chalk pit on a Surrey road. For eleven days the police and the public searched for the mystery author. She was finally found at a Harrogate hotel and health spa, registered under an assumed name. The story that the family gave to reporters was that she suffered from a concussion and amnesia.
Journalist Jared Cade researched Agatha Christie's life for six years and came up with probable reasons for Christie's disappearance. Christie had two devastating emotional blows during the months before she went missing. Christie had been very close to her mother who recently died. Her husband, Archie Christie, had been having an affair with a younger woman and wanted to leave the marriage. The author shows how Christie may have staged her disappearance at a time when she was very emotionally upset. This period of her life was so painful that Christie never wanted to discuss it.
The book puts the disappearance in the context of the rest of Christie's life. There is also lots of information about her books, especially those that may contain plot elements involving an unfaithful spouse or a missing person. Agatha Christie's own life, including her eleven missing days, is every bit as interesting as the mysteries she wrote. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Journalist Jared Cade researched Agatha Christie's life for six years and came up with probable reasons for Christie's disappearance. Christie had two devastating emotional blows during the months before she went missing. Christie had been very close to her mother who recently died. Her husband, Archie Christie, had been having an affair with a younger woman and wanted to leave the marriage. The author shows how Christie may have staged her disappearance at a time when she was very emotionally upset. This period of her life was so painful that Christie never wanted to discuss it.
The book puts the disappearance in the context of the rest of Christie's life. There is also lots of information about her books, especially those that may contain plot elements involving an unfaithful spouse or a missing person. Agatha Christie's own life, including her eleven missing days, is every bit as interesting as the mysteries she wrote. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
October 10, 2017
I am confused. I heard about Christie's mysterious disappearance many years ago. When I heard about this book I thought - finally the mystery explained. The book does little to explain what Christie was really up to when she "disappeared". It is a biography.
What confuses me most is that this book earned an overall rating of over 4 stars. Many of you reviewed the book with negative comments and then gave it a 3. While the writing is cohesive and mostly sequential, this was simply a biography. So why the high ratings and the less than spectacular reviews. Frankly, if the rating had not been so high, I never would have wasted my time.
When I rate a book I try to evaluate the story and its credibility as well as the writing style and technique. In addition, I try to think about my mood at the time of reading it. What criteria do others use? Please enlighten me if my thinking is incorrect.
What confuses me most is that this book earned an overall rating of over 4 stars. Many of you reviewed the book with negative comments and then gave it a 3. While the writing is cohesive and mostly sequential, this was simply a biography. So why the high ratings and the less than spectacular reviews. Frankly, if the rating had not been so high, I never would have wasted my time.
When I rate a book I try to evaluate the story and its credibility as well as the writing style and technique. In addition, I try to think about my mood at the time of reading it. What criteria do others use? Please enlighten me if my thinking is incorrect.
April 12, 2017
Agatha Christie led a long and eventful life, which this author has managed to cover in 240 pages. It makes most other literary biographies seem unnecessarily padded. A key part of the book is uncovering the truth, as far as it can be ascertained, around Agatha's disappearance in December 1926, but it is not simply a book about those eleven days.
The writing style is unpolished and perhaps more suited to a documentary narrative (which the author was involved in). It is adequate, but prevents me from giving the book five stars.
The writing style is unpolished and perhaps more suited to a documentary narrative (which the author was involved in). It is adequate, but prevents me from giving the book five stars.
May 5, 2017
I really liked the content of this book. The author's conclusions about the disappearance and the influence it had on the rest of Agatha Christie's life were very interesting, and he had clearly done a great deal of research. However, I thought the actual writing left a lot to be desired. Paragraphs were filled with material unrelated to the rest of the paragraph, ideas were left undeveloped, and there were numerous typos. It seemed like a first draft, although the edition I read was "revised and expanded."
October 13, 2018
L'autore svela soprattutto lati inediti e sconosciuti della vita amorosa di Agatha Christie, lasciandomi peraltro anche molto triste dopo aver letto alcuni fatti. Molto bello invece il racconto dell'amicizia fra Agatha e Nan Watts, un'amicizia durata tutta la vita.
Molto probabilmente quelli che l'amarono e l'amano di più sono ancora i fans dei suoi libri.
Molto probabilmente quelli che l'amarono e l'amano di più sono ancora i fans dei suoi libri.
May 9, 2013
Less what it says on the cover than another biography presented with a lengthy theory about Christie's disappearance. The attempts to link everything she ever did or wrote to either her disappearance or Archie Christie's infidelity mean the author sometimes draws a very long bow indeed.
July 6, 2018
By now it seems generally accepted that the disappearance was an elaborate publicity stunt and due to the upper classes status at the time she was allowed to get away with the waste of police time. Didn't really have much to say that hasn't been put before.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2014
It was tough to get through. This whole book could have been summed up in about three chapters.
January 13, 2019
Theoretically an interesting subject, ruined by writing that is dreadful on a technical level.
March 28, 2022
Una lettura piacevole, per chi fosse interessato alle biografie.
La vita di Agatha Christie è stata sicuramente movimentata e intrigante, senza contare quel pizzico di aura misteriosa che l'autrice stessa con la sua estrema cura della privacy ha sparso sulle vicende che l'hanno coinvolta.
Unica pecca, il fatto che il titolo parli esplicitamente del mistero della scomparsa della Christie, quando poi nel libro se ne parla come di uno dei tanti fatti della sua vita. Il quale, oltretutto, ha ben poco di misterioso, almeno per come presentato dall'autore.
In sostanza, una lettura piacevole se volete recuperare una biografia; se invece siete incuriositi in particolare dalla scomparsa dell'autrice a cui fa cenno il titolo, risparmiatevi la delusione.
La vita di Agatha Christie è stata sicuramente movimentata e intrigante, senza contare quel pizzico di aura misteriosa che l'autrice stessa con la sua estrema cura della privacy ha sparso sulle vicende che l'hanno coinvolta.
Unica pecca, il fatto che il titolo parli esplicitamente del mistero della scomparsa della Christie, quando poi nel libro se ne parla come di uno dei tanti fatti della sua vita. Il quale, oltretutto, ha ben poco di misterioso, almeno per come presentato dall'autore.
In sostanza, una lettura piacevole se volete recuperare una biografia; se invece siete incuriositi in particolare dalla scomparsa dell'autrice a cui fa cenno il titolo, risparmiatevi la delusione.
April 11, 2018
Psykologisella otteella kirjoitettu elämäkerta kuuluisasta kirjailijasta. Sujuvaa mutta hivenen poukkoilevaa tekstiä. Pääpaino on Agathan kadonneissa yhdessätoista päivässä, katoaminen aiheutti suuren etsintäoperaation ja paljon kohua lehdissä. En ollut ennen tämän lukemista tietoinen siitä miten suuri merkitys tämän tapauksen saamalla julkisuudella oli kirjailijan koko elämään.
January 4, 2020
I have always enjoyed Agatha Christie's books and had recently seen a film, Agatha and the Truth of Murder, that fictionally explained the missing eleven days. In any case, this book by Jared Cade was revealing in that it portrayed this most successful author as being insecure - to put it mildly - about her financial status, her aging, the faithfulness of her husbands, even some of her writing. This book is often at odds with Wikipedia, for example, and other assessments, which portray her second marriage as happy (not according to Mr. Cade).
Anyway, it is worth the read, albeit not the most uplifting of stories.
I had to keep reminding myself that this woman wrote so many great books, especially, the wonderful 4:50 from Paddington, a brilliant detective novel with an ambiguous ending.
Anyway, it is worth the read, albeit not the most uplifting of stories.
I had to keep reminding myself that this woman wrote so many great books, especially, the wonderful 4:50 from Paddington, a brilliant detective novel with an ambiguous ending.
August 18, 2019
This book is a mixed bag. I didn't have high expectations for the book; it just happened to be available through my Libby account, so I borrowed it. The information within was suitable to why I picked it up in the first place: my curiosity over Christie's disappearance. The scope of the book is well beyond just the disappearance, and is, in fact, a biography. I don't know whether to fault the author or the editor for certain clumsy sections, lack of transition, overly lengthy book descriptions, and so forth. The end of the book contains a lengthy critique of another author's work on Christie, which I felt was unnecessary. Nonetheless, I came away with new information about the life of Christie and a few more of her titles added to my "to be read" list.
July 13, 2017
This well-researched and incredibly detailed biography provides a credible explanation for the eleven days that Agatha Christie went missing in December 1926. Transcriptions of interviews, newspaper articles, official documents, and intimate plot examinations of many of Christie's books, bolster the account as presented by Jared Cade. Furthermore, Cade writes lovingly, yet honestly, about the legendary mystery novelist, and her family and friends. By the time one finishes the book, it's as if one has not only had a glimpse into her private life, but the opportunity to live in her world and see things through the eyes of Dame Agatha Christie. Highly recommended for fans of her mysteries.
April 27, 2022
A must read for Agatha Christie fans - phenomenal research. Not only does it answer the mystery of the 11 days, it is a great biography. Mr Cade gives an in-depth look into the life of Agatha Christie, but also that of her alter ego, Mary Westmacott. She was a tough nut to crack, but this biography comes pretty close as it delves into her most private thoughts.
Her autobiography was a fairy tale as she ignored any unpleasant events - disappearance, adultery etc. This book, plus the one by Charles Osborne shed a lot of light on her tragic life.
Included is the backstory on many of her books - makes me want to read them all over again! I might just do that 👍
Her autobiography was a fairy tale as she ignored any unpleasant events - disappearance, adultery etc. This book, plus the one by Charles Osborne shed a lot of light on her tragic life.
Included is the backstory on many of her books - makes me want to read them all over again! I might just do that 👍
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