I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Pegasus Crime
Published: September 6, 2022
Summary:
A new, fascinating account of the life of Agatha Christie from celebrated literary and cultural historian Lucy Worsley.
“Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was.”
Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was “just” an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn’t? Her life is fascinating for its mysteries and its passions and, as Lucy Worsley says, “She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern.” She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness.
So why—despite all the evidence to the contrary—did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?
She was born in 1890 into a world that had its own rules about what women could and couldn’t do. Lucy Worsley’s biography is not just of a massively, internationally successful writer. It’s also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman.
With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley’s biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realize what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was—truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.
My thoughts:
I have become quite fascinated not only with Agatha Christie’s books but also with Agatha Christie herself, so when I heard about this book, I had to get a copy of it. I have a feeling this book, much like Carla Valentine’s The Science of Murder, are going to be much read and loved books as I continue to work my way through all of Agatha Christie’s books. I recently said to my husband that I would love to take a class on her writing – I just find her to be so incredibly smart for her time and it is books like these that provide insight into her mind.
Having just watched the PBS Special that was on that Lucy did on Agatha Christie, I felt it was the perfect time to jump into this book. That special was a broad overview of what is contained in this book and I could not wait to dig much deeper into Christie’s life. She really is such a fascinating woman and even though I thought I knew a bit about her, what I knew just scratched the surface.
I loved how Worsley not only gave us a look at Christie the writer, but also at Christie the woman. And I particularly loved getting more insight into the time when she went missing. Even though I did know about this, I think this whole event still has a lot of unanswered questions. I appreciated seeing how Worsley laid out what she was able to find and provide a few more details I hadn’t yet heard.
Many of Christie’s books are mentioned throughout this novel and while there are spoilers for a few of them, I didn’t mind in the least. Some of the books I’ve already read and loved getting a deeper analysis of the book and for the others, I’m ok with having the details. Partly because I’ll probably forget by the time I read the book and partly because even if I do happen to remember, it might make me read closer to see if I can pick out the clues!
I’m so glad to have this book in my collection and know it will be a well-used, well-looked at book. And I will definitely be checking out what else Lucy Worsley has written – she is clearly passionate about this subject and it shows. I would imagine that would be the case for everything else she writes!
Audio thoughts:
I did a combination of reading and listening, though mostly listening, to this book and loved that Lucy Worsley narrates the book herself. Having already watched the PBS Special, I was already familiar with her voice and cadence, and felt she did a great job here in the book as well. Sometimes having a narrator narrate their own book doesn’t work out that well, but here I think it worked out perfectly! You could really feel Worsley’s passion for the topic, in this case the life of Agatha Christie, coming across in all she was saying and all she was discovering.
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