Agatha Christie: A Life From Beginning To End by Hourly History

 

First Published: October 18, 2020

RATING: GOOD

This is a brief account of Agatha Christie's life.

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay on September 15, 1890. 

Her childhood home was Ashfield.  She lived there from her birth until the time of her marriage, and intermittently thereafter. She reluctantly sold it in 1940. 

She had a sister, Madge, who wrote a play that was produced in the West End. She married James Watts. 

Agatha met Archie Christie, who Agatha's mother, Clara, disapproved. He met Agatha Miller when he was invited to a ball on 12 October 1912 by Lady Clifford at her grand home Ugbrooke House in Chudleigh.

During the First World War Agatha volunteered as a nurse for the Voluntary Aid Detachment.  This  introduced her to the world of pharmacy and poisons, directly inspiring her crime novels, particularly her knowledge of lethal substances

Agatha and Archie married in 1914. 

In 1920 Agatha published her first mystery, The Mysterious Affair At Styles, which introduced Poirot, Hastings and Inspector Japp. It was written in the middle of the First World War.

Agatha had a daughter, Rosalind, on 5 August, 1919

In 1922 Agatha and Archie went on a great journey in South Africa, Australia, Newe Zealand and New York. 

On their return, Archie found himself unemployed and Agatha found a new agent, Edmund Cork. Her new novel, The Man In the Brown Suit, was serialised in the Evening News. It was published on August 22, 1924.

Agatha bought her own car, which was something of a novelty for the period. Archie found a job with a finance company, and Agatha moved to Sunningdale, which had a golf course because Archie had become fond of the sport. 

Agatha started working on the Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The novel was published in the UK in June 1926.

Clara, Agatha's mother, died in 1926, which was a terrible blow for her. 

In 1926 Archie also broke the news that she was in love with Nancy Neele, his usual golf partner and he wanted a divorce. After that, Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven days. She was later found at a hotel in Harrogate, Hydropathic Hotel, and she claimed not to remember anything. 

Archie divorced Agatha and married his lover, Nancy. Agatha also started writing romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. She wrote six novels under this name. 

Her friends Leonard and Katherine Woolley introduced her to Max Mallowan at a dig site, and they married in 1930. 

They bought Winterbrook House in 1934. 

Miss Marple first appeared in a short story "The Tuesday Night Club" in 1927. 

Many renowned actresses have played Miss Marple: Margaret Rutherford, Angela Lansbury and Helen Hayes. 

The first novel in which Miss Marple appeared was Murder At the Vicarage. It was published on 20 October 1930.

Plays also made Christie popular. One of the plays was And Then There Were None. The play was based on her 1939 book, and the play premiered in 1943. 

Another popular play was Witness for the Prosecution, which got an award and was adapted for a film, starred by Marlene Dietrich. Marlene Dietrich starred as the enigmatic Christine Vole in the classic 1957 courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution, directed by Billy Wilder

When WW2 broke out, Max joined the Royal Fliers. Agatha also found herself heavy with debts. In 1952 The Mousetrap premiered, which has been the longest running show in history. The play has a twist ending which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre. 

Agatha was very fond of her grandson, Matthew, but the relationship with her daughter was always strained. 

Agatha Christie died in 1973.