Appointment With Agatha discussion

Opening the thread for our November read, Taken at the Flood, a couple days early, in case anyone wants to get started...

I started last night and finished it today. Loved it!!!!

I loved this! Delightfully twisty and turny!

Stayed up late to finish this last night, carried along by the intricate plot and my admiration for Christie’s ability to craft complex supporting characters:

At the end of chapter 16 (book one), “Sergeant Graves refrained from saying ‘Cherchez le femme.’ He had a very good French accent and he knew better than to irritate Superintendent Spence by drawing attention to it. Sergeant Graves was a tactful young man.”

I just finished this one. There was a large cast of supporting characters and the mystery was twisty enough to keep me engaged. Poirot didn't really enter into the story until about halfway through and when he did, he was being particularly annoying. I thought I was on my way to a 3 star read - "like it" rather than "love it".

And then THE SCENE happened. I will save spoilers until a bit later in the month to give everyone a chance to comment but wholly crap I hated it. And from then on, downhill for me.

*face palm*

I just finished and I loved it. I was totally surprised by the end.

I would like to know what people thought of the crazy love scene at the end. I read over it at the time as the author's wacky idea of getting a love story in there but it's a little disconcerting right?

Jessica wrote: "I would like to know what people thought of the crazy love scene at the end.."

(view spoiler)[The choking scene? (hide spoiler)]

Appalling. But I’ve come to expect awfulness from Christie. It fits right in with her utter disdain for women, horrific racism and disgusting anti-Semitism.

I keep telling myself she’s as much a woman of her time as I am of mine.

C wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I would like to know what people thought of the crazy love scene at the end.."

[spoilers removed]

Appalling. But I’ve come to expect awfulness from Christie. It fits right in with..."

(view spoiler)[Yes the choking scene is exactly what I was referring to. I must admit that I read over it initially because it was so weird. When I thought about it later, I was forced to admit that it bothered me from the point of view of a 21st century woman. But I have also read a nonfiction book in which the author stated that almost 1/3 of couples (in this century) are violent toward each other so maybe it's not as weird as I think it should be.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Apart from the mystery, I thought this was interesting as a commentary of the financial and social difficulties the people faced in the post-war era. She must have been facing some of this too, yet she kept writing and writing all through and after the war.

I enjoyed the twists and turns