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آگاتا کریستی؛ اسرار انگلیسی
کتابهای آگاتا کریستی پرفروشترین کتابهای جنایی در دنیاست، ولی پشت پرسونای این «ملکه جنایت» آرام زنی قابلتوجه و پیچیده آرمیده.
لارا تامپسون، زندگینامهنویس مشهور انگلیسی، با همراهی خانواده کریستی و دسترسی کامل به نامهها، نوشتهها و یادداشتهای منتشرنشده آگاتا کریستی، دست به تحقیقی کامل درباره زندگی و لایههای شخصیتی این نویسنده بزرگ زده. تامپسون، از دوران کودکی ادواردی کریستی، دو ازدواجش و یازده روز ناپدیدی اسرارآمیزش، تا رمانهای پر از مکاشفهاش که با اسم مری وست مکوت آنها را نوشت، تمام جزییات کاری آگاتا کریستی و حقایق زندگی شخصیاش را، با ارتباط دادن این دو به یکدیگر، آشکار کرده. این کتاب، بیش از همه، زندگینامهای حساس درباره آگاتا کریستی پدیده، نویسنده و زن است.
لارا تامپسون، زندگینامهنویس مشهور انگلیسی، با همراهی خانواده کریستی و دسترسی کامل به نامهها، نوشتهها و یادداشتهای منتشرنشده آگاتا کریستی، دست به تحقیقی کامل درباره زندگی و لایههای شخصیتی این نویسنده بزرگ زده. تامپسون، از دوران کودکی ادواردی کریستی، دو ازدواجش و یازده روز ناپدیدی اسرارآمیزش، تا رمانهای پر از مکاشفهاش که با اسم مری وست مکوت آنها را نوشت، تمام جزییات کاری آگاتا کریستی و حقایق زندگی شخصیاش را، با ارتباط دادن این دو به یکدیگر، آشکار کرده. این کتاب، بیش از همه، زندگینامهای حساس درباره آگاتا کریستی پدیده، نویسنده و زن است.
625 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
514 people are currently reading
5914 people want to read
About the author
Laura Thompson
87 books182 followersPlease note: Laura Thompson's account is mistakenly merged with another author's account by the same name. Goodreads Librarians are working to solve the issue.
Laura Thompson writes about life - and is unapologetic in what she captures. She is a sexual assault survivor, has navigated near death traumas with her daughters' medical issues, and possesses the ability to capture what is true, honest, and worthy.
True to form, her writing will resonate powerfully with other survivors and with anyone who knows a survivor - because she embodies the word.
Thompson has worked in nonprofit administration for seven years. She and her husband, Edward, have three children: identical twin daughters, Jane and Claire, and son, Stephen. They reside in the Lowcountry of Charleston, SC.
Laura Thompson writes about life - and is unapologetic in what she captures. She is a sexual assault survivor, has navigated near death traumas with her daughters' medical issues, and possesses the ability to capture what is true, honest, and worthy.
True to form, her writing will resonate powerfully with other survivors and with anyone who knows a survivor - because she embodies the word.
Thompson has worked in nonprofit administration for seven years. She and her husband, Edward, have three children: identical twin daughters, Jane and Claire, and son, Stephen. They reside in the Lowcountry of Charleston, SC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 250 reviews
May 7, 2018
This book was all over the place for me. It was also repetitive as anything, if you want to read countless comments made about how Christie was beautiful once, got fat, and also left her first husband alone too much (i.e. it's her fault he had an affair and left her) well then this book is for you.
Thompson does tell Christie's life story from beginning (birth) to end (death). However, there seems to be a wall between Thompson and the reader. I wanted to know more about Christie, not Thompson's reading between the lines of all of Christie's works in order to show how Christie really feels about things.
For example:
Thompson uses this as an example of Christie being okay with her marriage to her first husband Archibald Christie.
Once again she uses one of Christie's works as a way to diagnose her. She does this repeatedly throughout the book and it gets old.
There are quotes from Christie's autobiography in this book which I wish I had just read. It seems ten times more interesting than this book.
I was curious about Christie leaving her only child Rosalind behind so much. Thompson makes comments making it seem as if Rosalind blamed Christie for leaving her father alone too much and also didn't much care for her second husband Max, however, at the same time she brings up how protective Rosalind was of Agatha. This book does not do much to answer those questions for me. Instead Thompson just brings up enough points on both sides to make you wonder about the relationship between mother and daughter.
Thompson also does it regarding Christie's first marriage and her second marriage. She either loved Archibald Christie until his/her death or she got over it. She was okay with her second husband being 14 years her junior or she was not. She knew about him cheating on her or maybe she didn't.
I was also turned off by Thompson defending Christie's racism that showed up in her works (see the original title to "And Then There Were None" and the constant comments about Jewish people in her works). She tries to make a stab at saying that Christie was too above labels or some such thing and I felt annoyed that Thompson at least who wrote this back in 2007 would not grasp why it's not okay to use the "N" word or always describing Jewish characters in a negative fashion.
The writing is so boring. Probably because of the quotes included and the commentary about Christie's books included in what is supposed to be a biography of Christie. The flow was awful. I realized at one point that we didn't even get to when Christie meets her second husband until page 310. There is a lot that could have been trimmed out of this 544 page book. The only thing I really enjoyed was looking at the pictures that Thompson included at the end.
Thompson does tell Christie's life story from beginning (birth) to end (death). However, there seems to be a wall between Thompson and the reader. I wanted to know more about Christie, not Thompson's reading between the lines of all of Christie's works in order to show how Christie really feels about things.
For example:
"In her detective novel Three Act Tragedy she has the young ‘Egg’ Lytton-Gore in love with a much older man: ‘Girls were always attracted to middle-aged men with interesting pasts.’ The relationship is all about hero-worship on one side, youth-worship on the other, but this does not mean it would be more difficult to sustain than a marriage between apparent equals, or one that is apparently without illusions. ‘Lady Mary, you wouldn’t like your girl to marry a man twice her own age,’ a character says to Egg’s mother. ‘Her answer surprised him. “It might be safer so . . . At that age a man’s follies and sins are definitely behind him; they are not – still to come . . . "
Thompson uses this as an example of Christie being okay with her marriage to her first husband Archibald Christie.
"The Secret Adversary had the quality peculiar to almost everything that Agatha ever wrote: readability. The hero and heroine may send some readers for a metaphorical shotgun but Agatha’s delight in them is evident. She especially loved her ex-VAD Tuppence, every bit Tommy’s match in courage and resourcefulness, although the feminist angle would not have occurred to her creator. Tuppence is a sunny-natured little pragmatist – as was Agatha, at times – with a childlike greed for both food and money. Money, indeed, is the real theme of the book."
Once again she uses one of Christie's works as a way to diagnose her. She does this repeatedly throughout the book and it gets old.
There are quotes from Christie's autobiography in this book which I wish I had just read. It seems ten times more interesting than this book.
I was curious about Christie leaving her only child Rosalind behind so much. Thompson makes comments making it seem as if Rosalind blamed Christie for leaving her father alone too much and also didn't much care for her second husband Max, however, at the same time she brings up how protective Rosalind was of Agatha. This book does not do much to answer those questions for me. Instead Thompson just brings up enough points on both sides to make you wonder about the relationship between mother and daughter.
Thompson also does it regarding Christie's first marriage and her second marriage. She either loved Archibald Christie until his/her death or she got over it. She was okay with her second husband being 14 years her junior or she was not. She knew about him cheating on her or maybe she didn't.
I was also turned off by Thompson defending Christie's racism that showed up in her works (see the original title to "And Then There Were None" and the constant comments about Jewish people in her works). She tries to make a stab at saying that Christie was too above labels or some such thing and I felt annoyed that Thompson at least who wrote this back in 2007 would not grasp why it's not okay to use the "N" word or always describing Jewish characters in a negative fashion.
The writing is so boring. Probably because of the quotes included and the commentary about Christie's books included in what is supposed to be a biography of Christie. The flow was awful. I realized at one point that we didn't even get to when Christie meets her second husband until page 310. There is a lot that could have been trimmed out of this 544 page book. The only thing I really enjoyed was looking at the pictures that Thompson included at the end.
January 31, 2023
Well, this book was a total letdown, a biography absolutely unworthy of Agatha Christie. The style was annoying & pretentious and gave me the feeling that this book was a phoney, which I hate!!!!
We are told that the author had unique access to A.C.'s correspondence & other personal family papers. All the worse for her, because clearly she couldn't rise to the occasion and wasted her chances.
The book is jerky, rambles all over the place without agenda & structure, the author goes on about stuff in unnecessary circles and forgets where she wants to go, so we have no clue either.
DUH, enough said, it's not worth wasting more time over this
We are told that the author had unique access to A.C.'s correspondence & other personal family papers. All the worse for her, because clearly she couldn't rise to the occasion and wasted her chances.
The book is jerky, rambles all over the place without agenda & structure, the author goes on about stuff in unnecessary circles and forgets where she wants to go, so we have no clue either.
DUH, enough said, it's not worth wasting more time over this
February 19, 2012
I was disappointed by this biography, which I picked up at the Border's closing sale. Thompson is very defensive of Christie, as if fans of her novels couldn't handle anything less than perfection. I'd rather have an honest, warts-and-all look at someone's life than a hagiography.
And with 'unique access to her diaries, letters and family', I expected to see more of Christie's own opinions. Instead, the quotes from primary sources were bland while the author supported her opinions with quotes from the novels instead. Thompson doesn't explain why some sentences from the novels can be taken as proof of Christie's opinions, while others are definitely just there for the sake of the story. If there isn't any proof of how Christie felt about something, I'd rather Thompson admitted that she was speculating and explained how she reached her conclusion.
On the positive side, Thompson's admittedly-speculative theory of what happened when Christie disappeared for 11 days is both plausible and well-written. She doesn't gloss over the details of Christie's later life or tax troubles, which I didn't know about before.
Still, it left me wanting to read another Christie biography, as I feel like I can't quite take this one at face value.
And with 'unique access to her diaries, letters and family', I expected to see more of Christie's own opinions. Instead, the quotes from primary sources were bland while the author supported her opinions with quotes from the novels instead. Thompson doesn't explain why some sentences from the novels can be taken as proof of Christie's opinions, while others are definitely just there for the sake of the story. If there isn't any proof of how Christie felt about something, I'd rather Thompson admitted that she was speculating and explained how she reached her conclusion.
On the positive side, Thompson's admittedly-speculative theory of what happened when Christie disappeared for 11 days is both plausible and well-written. She doesn't gloss over the details of Christie's later life or tax troubles, which I didn't know about before.
Still, it left me wanting to read another Christie biography, as I feel like I can't quite take this one at face value.
February 16, 2017
I don't understand why this book has over 4 stars average. I found it disappointing. The author continuously uses quotes from Christies (fictional) books to prove how Christie thought about things. But it never becomes clear why writer Laura Thompson thinks those quotes express Christies personal thoughts instead of those uttered by the fictional characters in the book. It annoyed me so, that I couldn't finish it. I rather try another biography.
January 31, 2012
This is a problematic book. It has its good points, and some very negative. But let's start with the positive. The book is incredibly well researched, if there is anything you ever wanted to know you will find it here. You will find a whole lot of information you didn't even know you wanted to know. And Laura Thompson clearly loves her subject, she loves to write this book and it is very evident throughout it. No, throughout most of the book. She loves the subject and she loves the writer Christie and all this love and staunch belief in Christie can make an entertaining read.
But then there are some problems...
First of all this love for Christie makes Thompson a bit blind to the fact that not everyone that picks up this book will share her absolute devotion, considering Christie the best crime writer of the Golden era of English crime. It is of course quite alright to believe in your subject, but it can get a bit tedious with a long section stating Thompson’s opinions on why Christie is the greatest presented as unarguable fact.
Secondly, this is not a straightforward biography, you get all the facts, but a bit jumbled up as if you are supposed to have a grasp on the basic facts of Christie's life beforehand. For example, Christie’s first husband, Archie, is not much more than introduced before you are told that the marriage will end in shambles (which can get a bit boring for the reader, if nothing else). What Thompson want to tell her readers is instead the psychological biography of Christie. And that is a dangerous road to tread. Thompson seems incapable of consenting to that some things we just don't know, and we won't ever get the answer. The blurb on my copy talks about a unique access to letters, diaries and interviews with the family. This might be true, but it doesn't change the fact that most of the information come from Christie's books. Not her autobiography but her novels. Of course parts of it might very well reveal something about their creator, but it can't be used as facts, not even when semi-autobiographical. We just don't know what's true, and what is a pure fiction. Most of all Thompson turns to ‘Unfinished portrait’ and when there are facts and thoughts which collide with what we KNOW about Christie Thompson just pass them by without admitting the problem with using such a source when using the books for other parts of her life which we have very little, or no, other information about. Because we have to admit that there are quite frankly a lot about Christie's thoughts and inner life we don't know anything about. Not to mention that the novels are used in this way only when it suits this book's purpose. When a character says something less suitable it is labelled as a product of Christie's creativity.
Thirdly the main purpose of the book is without a doubt for the author to give her version of what she thinks happened when Christie disappeared for a week in 1926. I do not have a problem with that, it is an engrossing read. But there is a problem in this for the rest of the book. Everything that happened before this is analyzed with the knowledge of what was to happen then, and much afterwards is then analyzed as an effect of that one week and the media reaction afterwards, without taking into account that there are of course other things that must have influenced Christie and her actions. A person's actions in his or her life are generally not explainable with just one single cause. Another side-effect of this is that the later parts of her life are described in a way that is much less interesting, and since that is about fifty years of her life it is a bit of a problem.
Fourthly there are many instances in the book when what she writes is an answer to the book ‘Agatha Christie and the eleven missing days’ by Jared Cade, where Thompson mostly disagrees with the conclusions drawn. If you haven't read the book in question, and no I haven't, it is just pointless.
And finally Thompson has a clear concept of what she thinks, stating them as facts and not opinions, most prominent in her belief that Christie was too attached to her mother and the house where she grew up. I should say the evidences she puts forward are not hard enough to really sound convincing...
But then there are some problems...
First of all this love for Christie makes Thompson a bit blind to the fact that not everyone that picks up this book will share her absolute devotion, considering Christie the best crime writer of the Golden era of English crime. It is of course quite alright to believe in your subject, but it can get a bit tedious with a long section stating Thompson’s opinions on why Christie is the greatest presented as unarguable fact.
Secondly, this is not a straightforward biography, you get all the facts, but a bit jumbled up as if you are supposed to have a grasp on the basic facts of Christie's life beforehand. For example, Christie’s first husband, Archie, is not much more than introduced before you are told that the marriage will end in shambles (which can get a bit boring for the reader, if nothing else). What Thompson want to tell her readers is instead the psychological biography of Christie. And that is a dangerous road to tread. Thompson seems incapable of consenting to that some things we just don't know, and we won't ever get the answer. The blurb on my copy talks about a unique access to letters, diaries and interviews with the family. This might be true, but it doesn't change the fact that most of the information come from Christie's books. Not her autobiography but her novels. Of course parts of it might very well reveal something about their creator, but it can't be used as facts, not even when semi-autobiographical. We just don't know what's true, and what is a pure fiction. Most of all Thompson turns to ‘Unfinished portrait’ and when there are facts and thoughts which collide with what we KNOW about Christie Thompson just pass them by without admitting the problem with using such a source when using the books for other parts of her life which we have very little, or no, other information about. Because we have to admit that there are quite frankly a lot about Christie's thoughts and inner life we don't know anything about. Not to mention that the novels are used in this way only when it suits this book's purpose. When a character says something less suitable it is labelled as a product of Christie's creativity.
Thirdly the main purpose of the book is without a doubt for the author to give her version of what she thinks happened when Christie disappeared for a week in 1926. I do not have a problem with that, it is an engrossing read. But there is a problem in this for the rest of the book. Everything that happened before this is analyzed with the knowledge of what was to happen then, and much afterwards is then analyzed as an effect of that one week and the media reaction afterwards, without taking into account that there are of course other things that must have influenced Christie and her actions. A person's actions in his or her life are generally not explainable with just one single cause. Another side-effect of this is that the later parts of her life are described in a way that is much less interesting, and since that is about fifty years of her life it is a bit of a problem.
Fourthly there are many instances in the book when what she writes is an answer to the book ‘Agatha Christie and the eleven missing days’ by Jared Cade, where Thompson mostly disagrees with the conclusions drawn. If you haven't read the book in question, and no I haven't, it is just pointless.
And finally Thompson has a clear concept of what she thinks, stating them as facts and not opinions, most prominent in her belief that Christie was too attached to her mother and the house where she grew up. I should say the evidences she puts forward are not hard enough to really sound convincing...
July 25, 2017
You should read this if you're (yet another bookstagrammer) already very familiar with Agatha and her work and want to know as much as you can get to know about her - this biography is cleverly written and is incredibly detailed with almost all life events being relayed back and quoted with reference to either a Christie or a Westmacott novel. I have saved quite a few Marples/Poirots that I haven't read yet and I'm glad it is that way or else I would have had to have gone out and bought some - this book has made me want to go on a great big Agatha Christie binge read!
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You shouldn't read this if you don't enjoy long chapters or tangents. I think in some instances it was necessary (eg childhood or the Harrogate scenario) but quite a bulk of one chapter seems purely intent on going on about Christie's taxes which I found quite dull and uninteresting. I also didn't like how the author continually references back to Jared Cade's "Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days" (which I have a copy of but haven't read) purely for purposes of slating inaccuracies and gossip. Whilst (although I haven't read the boom) referenced points indicate it is, nothing more than hyped up gossip it just came across as so unprofessional, slightly obsessive and did detract from the subject at hand. So minus half a star for that (making it 4.5)
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Favourite Quote: "No mystery greater than this one: that in an England apparently bent upon destroying everything she believed and embodied, Agatha Christie remains never more popular. The paradox would have intrigued her.
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You shouldn't read this if you don't enjoy long chapters or tangents. I think in some instances it was necessary (eg childhood or the Harrogate scenario) but quite a bulk of one chapter seems purely intent on going on about Christie's taxes which I found quite dull and uninteresting. I also didn't like how the author continually references back to Jared Cade's "Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days" (which I have a copy of but haven't read) purely for purposes of slating inaccuracies and gossip. Whilst (although I haven't read the boom) referenced points indicate it is, nothing more than hyped up gossip it just came across as so unprofessional, slightly obsessive and did detract from the subject at hand. So minus half a star for that (making it 4.5)
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Favourite Quote: "No mystery greater than this one: that in an England apparently bent upon destroying everything she believed and embodied, Agatha Christie remains never more popular. The paradox would have intrigued her.
April 25, 2022
One of the best Christie biographies out there.
January 4, 2017
Agatha Christie was a fascinating woman. That fact is completely lost in this biography which tangents all over the map and has too many references to her novels which is completely distracting to her life story. Sorry, but this book needs a good editor.
November 30, 2018
3,45/5
Rather problematic
Rather problematic
May 2, 2019
I would like to give this a higher rating but, although it is very well researched, it felt like work to read it! It covers Agatha Christie's life in a fairly non-linear fashion and seems to assume that the reader has very comprehensive knowledge of all of Christie's novels/plays. I also think the author's own personal feelings about Agatha Christie were presented as fact versus her opinion or belief. She had a tendency to glean a great deal about Christie's true feelings from the novels she wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. I'm not saying that wasn't the case but I don't feel we will ever know. Overall, if you are a fan of Agatha Christie this is definitely worth reading.
Want to read
March 7, 2018This appears to be a re-issue of the 2007 book, which was also republished in 2013. It's being reviewed in the press as if it's a new book, with no indication of whether it's exactly the same as the earlier versions or substantially updated. I bought the £0.99 2013 Kindle version on the assumption that this was just a case of selling the rights and republishing...which I have no problem with! Authors, agents, and publishers gotta eat, and that £20+ hardcover will no doubt sell well in the stores.
April 29, 2018
I was disappointed. I was hoping for a more in-depth look at Christie herself. The author really focuses on Christie's books and stories and which character depicts which person in her life. Too much analysis of writing and too little biographical information.
March 1, 2018
one of the best bioraphy of Christie I've read
April 14, 2018
I have to admit at the start I'm not an especial Christie fan, and I've generally found Poirot more of an annoyance than a pleasure.
If I have a particular favorite of her characters I'd have to say Miss Marple (though I think her less developed than she might have been), preferring those stories and even some of the films (despite Christie's dissatisfaction with most and the fact they seldom portray her as well as do the books).
Still, no one who writes can fail to be intrigued by Agatha Christie's success and her continued popularity. She has outlasted most of her contemporaries, even Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham, both of whom were better writers.
Christie's story has been told before. But the hint a writer with Laura Thompson's stature had access to documents not previously available and had a "solution" to the notorious 1926 disappearance drew me like a magnet.
Thompson's insight into the disappearance provides what I believe to be the most logical explanation to date, much more believable than the family-concocted amnesia and the press-alleged publicity stunt.
Aside from this event, her writing, and participation in archaeological digs in the Middle East with her second husband, Christie led a rather pedestrian existence; one not much different than might have been her lot had she not become a writer. She grew up surrounded by servants (and seems seldom to have lacked for them), had a conventional marriage which ended in disappointment and divorce, and a second union which seems to have been satisfactory for both parties. She was a mother, but does not seem to have been a very good one.
Thompson's examination of her writing is enthusiastic and illustrated with many quotes, including much on the more autobiographical Mary Westmacott novels. As to the personal life, Thompson also had access to many acquaintances as well as Rosalind, Christie's daughter.
Thompson is obviously a fan, but she doesn't hesitate to delve into Christie's flaws as a mother, wife and human being. For anyone with an interest in Agatha Christie, this book is a worthwhile source.
If I have a particular favorite of her characters I'd have to say Miss Marple (though I think her less developed than she might have been), preferring those stories and even some of the films (despite Christie's dissatisfaction with most and the fact they seldom portray her as well as do the books).
Still, no one who writes can fail to be intrigued by Agatha Christie's success and her continued popularity. She has outlasted most of her contemporaries, even Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham, both of whom were better writers.
Christie's story has been told before. But the hint a writer with Laura Thompson's stature had access to documents not previously available and had a "solution" to the notorious 1926 disappearance drew me like a magnet.
Thompson's insight into the disappearance provides what I believe to be the most logical explanation to date, much more believable than the family-concocted amnesia and the press-alleged publicity stunt.
Aside from this event, her writing, and participation in archaeological digs in the Middle East with her second husband, Christie led a rather pedestrian existence; one not much different than might have been her lot had she not become a writer. She grew up surrounded by servants (and seems seldom to have lacked for them), had a conventional marriage which ended in disappointment and divorce, and a second union which seems to have been satisfactory for both parties. She was a mother, but does not seem to have been a very good one.
Thompson's examination of her writing is enthusiastic and illustrated with many quotes, including much on the more autobiographical Mary Westmacott novels. As to the personal life, Thompson also had access to many acquaintances as well as Rosalind, Christie's daughter.
Thompson is obviously a fan, but she doesn't hesitate to delve into Christie's flaws as a mother, wife and human being. For anyone with an interest in Agatha Christie, this book is a worthwhile source.
November 9, 2021
Can't at all fathom why Thompson felt the need to turn this biography into a misogynistic, conservative, and fatphobic diatribe. It starts with her railing against "modern women" who are fighting against their "biology" by wanting careers and individual lives, and a venomous hostility towards women pervades every mention of Christie's characters, plots, and social circle (without evidence, Thompson states that every time a man did professional wrong by Christie his wife set him onto it).
Thompson describes real-life female murder victims as "harridans" who, implicitly, deserved it; she bashes Sayers, Allingham, and Marsh as inferior to Christie because they were "too feminine". It's a relentless attempt to make Christie Not Like Other Girls, although Thompson's open disgust at Christie gaining weight in her 40s gets immense page space as well.
And then we have apologia for Christie's xenophobia and classism, which is telegraphed in the introduction by Thompson describing refugees as "lurching down [English] streets" (I was so taken aback by this I nearly ditched the book then, which would have been the wiser choice). Thompson spends pages and pages claiming that Christie didn't actually have a racist bone in her body; she was just being a super-clever author by using racial slurs all the time, including in her titles, and her frequent use of them proves that they were "meaningless" to her, which Thompson then claims means she wasn't racist (it in fact means the exact opposite).
Laura Thompson basically pretended to write an entire biography to justify supporting Brexit and to bash women. I loved her book about the Mitford sisters, but this book was a garbage fire of a conservative agenda.
Thompson describes real-life female murder victims as "harridans" who, implicitly, deserved it; she bashes Sayers, Allingham, and Marsh as inferior to Christie because they were "too feminine". It's a relentless attempt to make Christie Not Like Other Girls, although Thompson's open disgust at Christie gaining weight in her 40s gets immense page space as well.
And then we have apologia for Christie's xenophobia and classism, which is telegraphed in the introduction by Thompson describing refugees as "lurching down [English] streets" (I was so taken aback by this I nearly ditched the book then, which would have been the wiser choice). Thompson spends pages and pages claiming that Christie didn't actually have a racist bone in her body; she was just being a super-clever author by using racial slurs all the time, including in her titles, and her frequent use of them proves that they were "meaningless" to her, which Thompson then claims means she wasn't racist (it in fact means the exact opposite).
Laura Thompson basically pretended to write an entire biography to justify supporting Brexit and to bash women. I loved her book about the Mitford sisters, but this book was a garbage fire of a conservative agenda.
July 29, 2018
As someone who had read many of her books, I was interested in this biography. She did live a very interesting life. Major caveat, though, this author, Thompson, seems oblivious to her own and Christie's racism. It was the norm for her class at the time, so it's not surprising. What is surprising is that a book published in 2018 would nonchalantly use the original title of Ten Little Indians (Ten Little N-----) without any reluctance and say, "after all it was just a nursery rhyme." A RACIST nursery rhyme! And Thompson seems to question by the 1950s and 60s why the title is causing trouble! Thompson tries to wash away the problem by describing Christie's shock at the Holocaust. Huh? This is not mutually exclusive with racism or even anti-semitism.
And Thompson's obsession with Christie's looks and weight is crazy--psychoanalzes it and blames Christie, essentially, for her divorce when her husband cheated on and left her!
And I didn't care for Thompson's interpretations of what Christie must have been thinking. Her linking of Christie's novels with her personal life is very detailed and somewhat insightful but it wasn't overcome by the flaws.
And Thompson's obsession with Christie's looks and weight is crazy--psychoanalzes it and blames Christie, essentially, for her divorce when her husband cheated on and left her!
And I didn't care for Thompson's interpretations of what Christie must have been thinking. Her linking of Christie's novels with her personal life is very detailed and somewhat insightful but it wasn't overcome by the flaws.
December 26, 2017
Laura Thompson's Agatha Christie is an excellent accompaniment to reading John Curran's The Secret Notebooks. I read them in close succession and found their perspective and perceptive commentary on Agatha Christie and her novels markedly enhanced my current re-reading of her work. While Curran's work concentrates on Christie's development of the novels and short stories, Thompson goes to the heart of her work: Christie's life and character.
I particularly liked the way Thompson dealt with the 11 day's disappearance. She used her imagination, based on her knowledge of Christie to develop the story. At the same time, we are taken carefully through the material and information that is available. This certainly puts to rest the idea that Christie's disappearance was a public act. It was possibly an act that took no account of the media, police ineptitude, the haste to believe assertions which undermined a public figure (which Christie clearly thought did not apply to her) and that, as a well known writer her life was not her own. As Thompson says, the idea that the media has only recently begun to attack public figures, taking their lives as if they are owned by the public is fallacious. Christie's story -
one of immense hurt and private agony - became a hook on which to pillory a woman of some fame. That she manage to deal with this as well as the loss of her beloved husband, Archie Christie, is a mark of her fortitude. Of course, she suffered the consequences all her life, ensuring that her second marriage remained intact.
Despite her determination to make this marriage work, she also worked prodigiously to produce work, both as Christie and as Mary Westmacott. Thompson provides some enlightening explanations of her methods, the stories behind some of the novels (in particular the Westmacott work) and some of the less romantic aspects of being a wealthy writer.
Christie's' marriages and her relationship with her mother, daughter Rosalind, her grandson and friends are dealt with perceptively. Her relationships, as described by Thompson, with her protagonists are a great source of information, about the books and Christie. There are wonderful descriptions of Christie's homes - including that of her childhood Ashfield in Torquay which she longed for throughout her life; the dreadful Styles, the home from which Archie left her; Wallingford's Winterbrook House and the delightful Greenway in Cornwall. Christie's travel, with Archie and later with Max Mallowan on various digs are not only enlightening but instructive. This Australian was displeased to read that she was pleased to leave our accent behind, preferring New Zealand (and their accents?) because she considered it more like home! More seriously, it is heartrending to read of her idyllic archaeological trips in areas now the site of war and refugees.
Thompson's book is perceptive, immensely readable and an excellent companion to Christie's work.
I particularly liked the way Thompson dealt with the 11 day's disappearance. She used her imagination, based on her knowledge of Christie to develop the story. At the same time, we are taken carefully through the material and information that is available. This certainly puts to rest the idea that Christie's disappearance was a public act. It was possibly an act that took no account of the media, police ineptitude, the haste to believe assertions which undermined a public figure (which Christie clearly thought did not apply to her) and that, as a well known writer her life was not her own. As Thompson says, the idea that the media has only recently begun to attack public figures, taking their lives as if they are owned by the public is fallacious. Christie's story -
one of immense hurt and private agony - became a hook on which to pillory a woman of some fame. That she manage to deal with this as well as the loss of her beloved husband, Archie Christie, is a mark of her fortitude. Of course, she suffered the consequences all her life, ensuring that her second marriage remained intact.
Despite her determination to make this marriage work, she also worked prodigiously to produce work, both as Christie and as Mary Westmacott. Thompson provides some enlightening explanations of her methods, the stories behind some of the novels (in particular the Westmacott work) and some of the less romantic aspects of being a wealthy writer.
Christie's' marriages and her relationship with her mother, daughter Rosalind, her grandson and friends are dealt with perceptively. Her relationships, as described by Thompson, with her protagonists are a great source of information, about the books and Christie. There are wonderful descriptions of Christie's homes - including that of her childhood Ashfield in Torquay which she longed for throughout her life; the dreadful Styles, the home from which Archie left her; Wallingford's Winterbrook House and the delightful Greenway in Cornwall. Christie's travel, with Archie and later with Max Mallowan on various digs are not only enlightening but instructive. This Australian was displeased to read that she was pleased to leave our accent behind, preferring New Zealand (and their accents?) because she considered it more like home! More seriously, it is heartrending to read of her idyllic archaeological trips in areas now the site of war and refugees.
Thompson's book is perceptive, immensely readable and an excellent companion to Christie's work.
September 6, 2020
Laura Thompson's hefty and well-researched biography of Agatha Christie focuses largely on a psychological study of Agatha and her relationships - rather like Poirot, she is interested in "the psychology of the individual". She also mounts a vigorous defence of Christie's work against those who have sought to diminish and misrepresent it (while acknowledging that it does, at times, vary in quality).
Thompson has had access to a lot of material and her book draws heavily not only on Agatha's letters, notebooks, etc but also on interviews with key people such as Agatha's daughter, Rosalind (since deceased) - as well as numerous extracts from the books themselves, most notably the strongly autobiographical Mary Westmacott novel, Unfinished Portrait. (Beware spoilers - numerous details of various plots are revealed.)
She devotes a lot of time to the famous 1926 disappearance and presents a theory which seems plausible and accords with the facts as they are known. I've never bought into the absurd "amnesia" idea which the family firmly stuck to - far more likely that Agatha, certainly in a state of great distress about husband Archie's request for a divorce, simply took off on her own for a while, perhaps at least partly in the hope of bringing him to his senses. When she was found exactly where she had said she would be - at a Yorkshire spa - albeit under a false name (a possibility which had apparently occurred to no-one), she was deemed to have played the public for a fool and opprobrium was unleashed. (Imagine how she would have fared in these days of social media!) I agree with Laura Thompson as to the particular disapproval heaped upon women who have apparently transgressed.
Agatha's snobberies and prejudices, as they appear in her work and her life, are characterised with some justice as both products of her time and as more complex and nuanced than is often supposed, although the author lost me somewhat with a comparison to the present day "mistreatment" of Brexiteers! I also felt she harped rather too much on Agatha's weight gain and supposed loss of youthful attractiveness, with snide asides such as "...[she was] a woman of substance.... a little too much substance, by then". Archie's unfaithfulness is deemed a consequence of this.
While I didn't necessarily agree with Laura Thompson's position on everything, it's undoubtedly an interesting and insightful read and I learned a lot I hadn't known about Agatha's life (indeed I realised I really hadn't known that much).
I'm inspired, anyway to reread all the Christies in publication order (while I'm sure I've read them all at some point, it's been at least thirty years ago in some cases). I've even downloaded an app to keep track. So watch this space.
Thompson has had access to a lot of material and her book draws heavily not only on Agatha's letters, notebooks, etc but also on interviews with key people such as Agatha's daughter, Rosalind (since deceased) - as well as numerous extracts from the books themselves, most notably the strongly autobiographical Mary Westmacott novel, Unfinished Portrait. (Beware spoilers - numerous details of various plots are revealed.)
She devotes a lot of time to the famous 1926 disappearance and presents a theory which seems plausible and accords with the facts as they are known. I've never bought into the absurd "amnesia" idea which the family firmly stuck to - far more likely that Agatha, certainly in a state of great distress about husband Archie's request for a divorce, simply took off on her own for a while, perhaps at least partly in the hope of bringing him to his senses. When she was found exactly where she had said she would be - at a Yorkshire spa - albeit under a false name (a possibility which had apparently occurred to no-one), she was deemed to have played the public for a fool and opprobrium was unleashed. (Imagine how she would have fared in these days of social media!) I agree with Laura Thompson as to the particular disapproval heaped upon women who have apparently transgressed.
Agatha's snobberies and prejudices, as they appear in her work and her life, are characterised with some justice as both products of her time and as more complex and nuanced than is often supposed, although the author lost me somewhat with a comparison to the present day "mistreatment" of Brexiteers! I also felt she harped rather too much on Agatha's weight gain and supposed loss of youthful attractiveness, with snide asides such as "...[she was] a woman of substance.... a little too much substance, by then". Archie's unfaithfulness is deemed a consequence of this.
While I didn't necessarily agree with Laura Thompson's position on everything, it's undoubtedly an interesting and insightful read and I learned a lot I hadn't known about Agatha's life (indeed I realised I really hadn't known that much).
I'm inspired, anyway to reread all the Christies in publication order (while I'm sure I've read them all at some point, it's been at least thirty years ago in some cases). I've even downloaded an app to keep track. So watch this space.
April 16, 2018
I somewhat enjoyed reading the story of Agatha Christie, who was published under different names like Mary Westmacott. Sometimes, it became tedious trying to get through the narrative of this biography, due to Laura Thompson constantly referring to and quoting from Agatha Chrisitie's published books. I understand that in so doing, the author was trying to give insights into Agatha's life--revealing that most of her characters and stories were based on the subject's own life and experiences. At some point, Agatha supposedly said that her characters were not based upon her own life. On page 435, the author says that the Mary Westmacotts books were autobiographical. Sometimes, I had to skim the quotes from and references to Agatha's books to get on with the biography of Agatha's life.
One confusing thing that the author wrote was (pg 306) that "what is probably her best book of all, The Rose and the Yew Tree"--is that referring to the best book published under Westmacott or under Christie, because on pg 318, she says "in 1942 came the best of them all Five Little Pigs"--so, does that mean that is the best book of only 1942?
When Agatha married for the second time, she spends quite a bit of time on digs in the Middle East with her archaeologist husband. I found those parts vividly portrayed and interesting. Other historical points of interest were told from her point of view, too.
The book could have been a lot shorter and held my attention.
Here is a conclusion from the author about Ms. Chrisite's life, which I think is pretty presumptuous, ".... including our relationship with Agatha Christie. They have rendered her finally and definitively at odds with the modern world. Not because she is a snob, or a racist, or a xenophobe, not because her characters live in well-ordered country houses and have maids who serve afternoon tea; but because she deals in constancy and certainty and fundamental hope, and those qualities are not longer ours." page 407. Who says?!
One confusing thing that the author wrote was (pg 306) that "what is probably her best book of all, The Rose and the Yew Tree"--is that referring to the best book published under Westmacott or under Christie, because on pg 318, she says "in 1942 came the best of them all Five Little Pigs"--so, does that mean that is the best book of only 1942?
When Agatha married for the second time, she spends quite a bit of time on digs in the Middle East with her archaeologist husband. I found those parts vividly portrayed and interesting. Other historical points of interest were told from her point of view, too.
The book could have been a lot shorter and held my attention.
Here is a conclusion from the author about Ms. Chrisite's life, which I think is pretty presumptuous, ".... including our relationship with Agatha Christie. They have rendered her finally and definitively at odds with the modern world. Not because she is a snob, or a racist, or a xenophobe, not because her characters live in well-ordered country houses and have maids who serve afternoon tea; but because she deals in constancy and certainty and fundamental hope, and those qualities are not longer ours." page 407. Who says?!
September 9, 2018
In this oddly written biography, Thompson employs a technique of comparing events in Agatha’s life to incidents in her many books especially the romances written as Mary Westmacott. This makes, at time, a choppy read so that previous familiarity with Christie’s life is almost demanded. A large section concentrates on the famed disappearance of Agatha after discovering her husband Archie’s infidelity. A nation-wide search for the author took place before she was discovered at a hotel where she had registered under the name of Archie’s mistress. Insidiously, the technique referred to above grows on you engaging you with the narrative unlike many biographies. Also in bringing in extracts from Christie’s books, it incites an urge to read or reread. As the book proceeds it moves into the more conventional structure of time passing, while still introducing excerpts from the books to illustrate various points. Christie’s personal life improved with her happy marriage to Max a renowned archeologist, 15 years her junior. After the war, Christie was forced to cope with the spectre of bankruptcy brought on by taxation due on her American royalties. Nonetheless, she was able to continue a luxurious life with several beautiful residences and many prominent friends. Publicity was her bete noire ever since her well publicized disappearance during her split with Archie. She also disliked having her picture taken as she was sensitive about her weight. Once a slender and attractive woman, she had become massively stout, a condition too frequently encountered by women of post-menopausal age. Christie’s output was spectacular and her detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became world famous as did she herself
May 5, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. Although I have read quite a few biographies sometimes I find them hard to get into because they're more or less set out like a timeline of the person's life. Although of course this book does more or less the same thing it is written in more of a literary fashion, which as a reader of mainly fiction I found easier to read. I especially like the way that she handles the 10 days when Agatha went missing, coming up with her most plausible scenario of what she thinks might have happened.
Because the author has had access to Agatha Christie's diaries and survivng family it lends the book an authenticity that other biographies don't normally have. Also I like the fact that Laura Thompson is a genuine fan of Christie's work and not just a critic writing a book to earn a living. She also seems to undestand the subtle intelligence of Christie's seemingly simplistic writing style. Her novels dont always neccessarily get the literary credit that they deserve.
Altogether a very educational and enjoyable work, which since reading, has encouraged me to read more Agatha Christie books. There are plenty to get through! Highly recommended for Christie fans and sceptics alike, a very well written book.
Because the author has had access to Agatha Christie's diaries and survivng family it lends the book an authenticity that other biographies don't normally have. Also I like the fact that Laura Thompson is a genuine fan of Christie's work and not just a critic writing a book to earn a living. She also seems to undestand the subtle intelligence of Christie's seemingly simplistic writing style. Her novels dont always neccessarily get the literary credit that they deserve.
Altogether a very educational and enjoyable work, which since reading, has encouraged me to read more Agatha Christie books. There are plenty to get through! Highly recommended for Christie fans and sceptics alike, a very well written book.
August 15, 2018
Ultimately unsatisfying. It might better be described a fictionalized biography or an imagining of Agatha Christie’s emotional climate. Author is so defensive of her subject (AC wasn’t racist and anti-Semitic. She just used slurs because... ?) and bizarrely preoccupied by AC’s “loss of her looks” (aka she gained weight). The work is incomprehensibly repetitive. Worst of all - for this reader - she uses Agatha Christie’s writing to bolster her psychologizing of her subject. i.e. Agatha clearly felt X, because one of her characters said something like it in Y book (written 15 years later). I wanted to like this but the author lost me after failing to engage honestly with AC’s documented racism and anti-semitism.
July 14, 2021
This has too much conjecture for a biography.
May 10, 2019
Very well written & generous towards its subject. I find Thompson treatment of Christie’s ten days absence really clever, even though I usually don”t like biographers getting into the head of the biographed person. But here, I think, it’s well done and framed as a fictionalisation, Thompson as a crime writer herself. As a fictional account, Thompson’s theory about the absence doesn’t have to take sides for the numerous theories that still go around. She leaves it to the reader what to make of it. Her reconstruction of the various motives Media people and the police had to not follow the clues Christie did place, is very convincing. It also supports her claim that the Disappearance is in a way the birth of Agatha Christie, a highly professional & hugely productive author. Thompson’s take on Christie’s marriage to Archie Christie and the role Victorian & Edwardian concepts of feminity may have played in Christie’s self-fashioning as a writer before and after 1926 is illuminating (especially for not denouncing it wholesale as a patriarchal ruse for putting down gifted women). Another interesting point is the focus on Christie’s trouble with British revenue authorities and the business site of the Christie enterprise. Thompson’s hints to Christie’s discontent about questions of brand management and publicity strategy could have been more expansive and detailed, though. What’s missing is a sustained discussion of the role of Empire & colonialism for Christie’s life and work and of Christie as a reader beyond her beloved children’s books.
February 19, 2018
Reading this was quite an undertaking! No one can accuse author Laura Thompson of not doing her research. While I learned much about Agatha Christie’s life that I did not know, I think the chapter about her disappearance was the most interesting. How ironic that even today, there is still somewhat of a mystery about the details of that disappearance.
The book covers Agatha’s life from childhood to death. Her contribution to plays, poems and other literature was prolific and Thompson made much use of it throughout the book. In fact, Thompson added so many excerpts from Christie’s writing that I sometimes felt like abandoning the biography to read Christie’s books.
I felt it was a bit presumptuous that Thompson so often assumed that Agatha viewed life as some of her characters or that Agatha was basing certain characters on her own life. Many times, I wished that Thompson had just presented the facts and not taken a detour into Christie’s writing that made assumptions about how she felt.
At times, the chronology was confusing and much of the information redundant. I felt the book could have been streamlined a bit to make for a smoother, more interesting read. I also would have liked to have seen more details about her life during World War II and in her later years.
Overall, the research was excellent and reading this has definitely motivated me to want to read more of Agatha Christie’s work.
Many thanks to NetGally and Pegasus Books for providing me with an advance copy.
The book covers Agatha’s life from childhood to death. Her contribution to plays, poems and other literature was prolific and Thompson made much use of it throughout the book. In fact, Thompson added so many excerpts from Christie’s writing that I sometimes felt like abandoning the biography to read Christie’s books.
I felt it was a bit presumptuous that Thompson so often assumed that Agatha viewed life as some of her characters or that Agatha was basing certain characters on her own life. Many times, I wished that Thompson had just presented the facts and not taken a detour into Christie’s writing that made assumptions about how she felt.
At times, the chronology was confusing and much of the information redundant. I felt the book could have been streamlined a bit to make for a smoother, more interesting read. I also would have liked to have seen more details about her life during World War II and in her later years.
Overall, the research was excellent and reading this has definitely motivated me to want to read more of Agatha Christie’s work.
Many thanks to NetGally and Pegasus Books for providing me with an advance copy.
November 19, 2019
He de decir que no es una de esas biografías que se lee tan "de corrido" como una novela, pero eso no le resta valor.
Lo que a veces me ha resultado un poco molesto es que en ella hay tantas citas de sus obras que muchas veces te "destripaban" algunos de sus libros aunque es cierto que, como estamos ante una obra tan extensa, es difícil que cuando vaya a leer una de sus novelas me acuerde de lo que aquí se me desvelaba sobre ella. Aún así, espero algún día llegar a haber leído la totalidad de su obra y por eso a veces tal profusión de citas textuales me molestaba.
No obstante, sé que volveré a este libro cada vez que lea una de las nobelas u obras de Doña Agatha, y en ese sentido, creo que esta biografía será una obra de consulta difícilmente superable.
Lo que a veces me ha resultado un poco molesto es que en ella hay tantas citas de sus obras que muchas veces te "destripaban" algunos de sus libros aunque es cierto que, como estamos ante una obra tan extensa, es difícil que cuando vaya a leer una de sus novelas me acuerde de lo que aquí se me desvelaba sobre ella. Aún así, espero algún día llegar a haber leído la totalidad de su obra y por eso a veces tal profusión de citas textuales me molestaba.
No obstante, sé que volveré a este libro cada vez que lea una de las nobelas u obras de Doña Agatha, y en ese sentido, creo que esta biografía será una obra de consulta difícilmente superable.
March 15, 2020
A good read-- it is very detailed and long, though. I still thoroughly enjoyed it, mostly, but I adore Agatha Christie as an author, especially her Poirot and Ms. Marple books. I also have read a lot of her stories which really helps, if it is not neccessary to like this book. The book ties Christie and her life's events together to her writings pretty much the entire time. My only complaint about the book is its rambling on and on and on about the same point, even if it was with a new twist. Her 1926 disappearance for example was just over told. Now, I feel like the Agatha Christie I knew before and loved is a real human I know personally too.
June 19, 2018
An in depth biography of Christie using her books, notebooks, and letters.
This book goes into a lot of detail about her early life, her first marriage but it is the Chapter on her disappearance is the highlight of the book.
Thompson is cold and not afraid to criticize at times.
An interesting biography for fans of Christie.
A very interesting biogrsphy
This book goes into a lot of detail about her early life, her first marriage but it is the Chapter on her disappearance is the highlight of the book.
Thompson is cold and not afraid to criticize at times.
An interesting biography for fans of Christie.
A very interesting biogrsphy
May 27, 2025
You really get an understanding of who Agatha Christie was and her character. I really appreciated Thompson's exploration of Christie's infamous disappearance and thought she presented the facts clearly and concisely.
My only gripe is that the book could have been cut down by 50 pages.
My only gripe is that the book could have been cut down by 50 pages.
May 22, 2018
I have yet to meet a human being who hasnt, at some point in his/her life, enjoyed the works of Agatha Christie in some way shape or form - a thousand thank yous to the wonderful David Suchet and all other actors and actresses that have brought to life her characters (and herself) time and again!
That being said, i have my serious doubts that Laura Thompson actually likes Dame Agatha at all after having read this one, because this is the most boring book on such a fascinating woman as Agatha, that i have ever read!
The research is here, or better yet, the reading of anything and everything she ever wrote...and yet, it fails big time when it comes to a final result - it doesnt flow, has no rythm to it, and relays way way too heavily on quoting one of Agatha's books every paragraph "as an explanation" of Agatha's feelings, actions, life events.
After the first 3 chapters i was frankly ready to throw it out the window, only thing saving it was that i kept falling asleep...such a shame really.
The pictures that come with the book are the best thing honestly, but dont make up for the fact that this over 500 page book is a very boring read and although Agatha did indeed have a long and eventful life, you don't need these many pages of quotes to make your point.
I cant recommend this honestly and i'm only giving it 3 stars on account of the photos and some tiny tidbits of info that i found interesting - the ones that kept me awake!
Honestly, as biased or partial as it might be, Dame Agatha own words about herself and her life are the best way to be introduced to the remarkably talented woman she was and still is, thanks to Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Captain Hasting and all the other characters that live on in her books.
i would also venture to recommend an episode of Doctor Who that i am quite fond of - The Unicorn and The Wasp - inspired by Dame Agatha and that pays her a lovely tribute.
Happy Readings!
That being said, i have my serious doubts that Laura Thompson actually likes Dame Agatha at all after having read this one, because this is the most boring book on such a fascinating woman as Agatha, that i have ever read!
The research is here, or better yet, the reading of anything and everything she ever wrote...and yet, it fails big time when it comes to a final result - it doesnt flow, has no rythm to it, and relays way way too heavily on quoting one of Agatha's books every paragraph "as an explanation" of Agatha's feelings, actions, life events.
After the first 3 chapters i was frankly ready to throw it out the window, only thing saving it was that i kept falling asleep...such a shame really.
The pictures that come with the book are the best thing honestly, but dont make up for the fact that this over 500 page book is a very boring read and although Agatha did indeed have a long and eventful life, you don't need these many pages of quotes to make your point.
I cant recommend this honestly and i'm only giving it 3 stars on account of the photos and some tiny tidbits of info that i found interesting - the ones that kept me awake!
Honestly, as biased or partial as it might be, Dame Agatha own words about herself and her life are the best way to be introduced to the remarkably talented woman she was and still is, thanks to Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Captain Hasting and all the other characters that live on in her books.
i would also venture to recommend an episode of Doctor Who that i am quite fond of - The Unicorn and The Wasp - inspired by Dame Agatha and that pays her a lovely tribute.
Happy Readings!
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