Agatha Christie

1890-1976. World-famous British crime writer, best-known for her most famous detectives Miss Jane Marple and Monsieur Hercule Poirot. She was often referred to as the “Queen of Crime” or the “Queen of Mystery”.

Life

Agatha Christie was born September 15 1890 as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller in Torquay, Devon. She was educated at home and studied singing and piano in Paris as a teenager. Although she had the potential to become a professional classical musician, she was too shy to go on stage. During the First World War, Christie volunteered as a nurse and gained her great knowledge about poisons, which she applied in most of her crime stories. In 1914 she married Archibald Christie, a young officer in the Royal Flying Corps. Their only daughter Rosalind was born August 5 1919.

In 1926 Agatha Christie not only mourned for her mother's death but also for her relationship with Archibald. He wanted to divorce her in order to marry a another younger woman. These events lead to the famous disappearance in 1926. Nobody knew where she was, there was even a reward for any hints about where she is. After 9 days she was detected in a spa in Yorkshire where she recovered under a false name.

In 1930 she fell in love with the archaeologist Max Mallowan on her journey through the Orient. They married September 11 1930 in Edinburgh. She assisted Max Mallowan on his archaeological digs in the East where she contributed to the discovering and preservation of antique crafts. Maida and Spornick quoted from Agatha Christie's autobiography how she was dreaming of becoming a Lady one day: “I wanted above everything in the world, to be the Lady Agatha one day” (Maida and Spornick 21). Indeed she was given Royal Honor twice as the wife of Sir Max Mallowan and as the famous crime author in 1971 as Dame Commander of the British Empire.

Despite being raised with Victorian values, Christie fancied Egyptian artefacts, dancing, polo, trains, and other things reflecting the new flow of modernism, which influenced her novels. Alterations of place and time, new means of faster transport (e.g. the Orient Express) and hidden identity play a role in her stories. As Christie avoided public appearances and the press, she created a kind of mystery about herself. Yet it is claimed that she gave her stories a very personal touch with her personal attitudes and experiences even though it is mystery fiction.

The Best-Selling Author

Although Agatha Christie wrote plays and romances as well, she is best known as crime novelist, which is why she was often called “Queen of Mystery” (Maida and Spornick 5) or “Queen of Crime” (Agatha Christie Ltd.). She wrote 66 detective stories as well as short stories and stage plays. Her first book The Mysterious Affair at Styles was finally published in 1920 after six publishers rejected it. That was when her career as the most famous and best known crime writer all over the world started. An estimated number of two billion books have been sold world wide in 103 languages (even more than the works of Shakespeare) and she is the most translated author. Besides, she is considered the best-selling female author worldwide, And Then There Were None being the most best-selling novel. The great output of titles and the exploding numbers of sales led to Christie's popularity. Her success peaked in the 1930s and 40s, also known as the Golden Age of detective fiction.

Agatha Christie was influenced by many writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Graham Greene, Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe. Moreover, many journeys as well as personal events in her life and personal experiences shaped the stories, characters and settings of her stories. “Plots come to me at such odd moments, when I am walking along the street, or examining a hat shop … suddenly a splendid idea comes into my head”, Christie is quoted on her official website (Agatha Christie Ltd.). All 12 novels and 20 short stories about Miss Marple were published in one book which was one foot long, had 4,032 pages and got an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for being the book with the thickest spine. Her stage play The Mousetrap is the longest running stage play in the world. It can still be seen at St Martin's Theatre in London's West End today.

As Mary Westmacott Agatha Christie pseudonymously published six romantic novels which remained a secret for almost 20 years. Mary Westmacott's first novel Giant's Bread was published in 1930.

References

"Agatha Christie". The Guardian Online. 27 Dec. 2011.

    <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/10/agathachristie> 

Maida, Patricia D. and Nicholas B. Spornick. A Study of Agatha Christie's Detective Fiction. Bowling Green: University Popular Press, 1982.

Agatha Christie Ltd. Agatha Christie: The Official Information and Community Website. 27 Dec.

    2011. <http://agathachristie.com/>