Agatha Christie, born in 1890, wrote 80 mystery novels and numerous plays and short stories. Her works have sold over two billion copies in 45 languages.
In the English language, she is outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible.
Early Years
Agatha Christie was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller in Torquay, Devonshire England in 1890, the third child of a British mother and American father. Her family was "well-off" and the Miller children were schooled at home. Her mother encouraged Agatha's writing from an early age.
During the War
Agatha married WWI aviator Archibald Christie in 1914 when she was 24 years old. While he was away at war, Agatha worked as a nurse and as a pharmacy assistant. Many of her later mystery novels include deaths by poison, information she most likely gained from her work at the pharmacy.
The Christies had one child, Rosalind Hicks, who was born in 1919.
Divorce and Remarriage
Agatha Christie was briefly the star of her own mystery, when in 1926, she disappeared for several days, causing a frenzy of press speculations. She was eventually found in a hotel in Harrogate and claimed to have no recollection of her departure. At the time, Ms. Christie was suffering from the recent death of her mother as well as her husband's announcement of his infidelity and intention to divorce her.
Agatha Christie remarried in 1930 to archeologist, Max Mallowan, who was 14 years her junior. Christie's novels, such as Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopotamia begin featuring Egyptian and Mideastern themes around this period.
Christie's Writing
Agatha Christie wrote her first mystery novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, while she was working in the hospital, but it was not published until after the war, in 1920. She continued to write regularly until her death in 1976.
Christie is best known for her characters. Chief among these is Hercule Poirot, a meticulous Belgian former police inspector, notable for his "egg-shaped head" and "glorious mustaches." Poirot is introduced in Christie's first novel and is featured in 29 others, including Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and his last case, Curtain.
Christie's other main character is Miss Jane Marple, an elderly and unassuming woman -- something of an antithesis to Poirot. Unlike Poirot, Miss Marple uses her knowledge of human behavior to solve crimes. Miss Marple is featured in 12 of Christie's novels.
Her Legacy
Christie's novels have sold over two billion copies in 45 languages. Unlike many of her popular contemporaries, such as Mary Roberts Rinehart and Ngaio Marsh, Christie's novels are, for the most part, as current today as they were when they were written. Among her plots are some of the most singular of the mystery genre. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, and Witness for the Prosecution all contain ground-breaking plot twists that have been copied but never duplicated.
For her contribution to British letters, Ms. Christie was named a Dame of the British Empire in 1971 by Queen Elizabeth.
Bibliography
For a complete list of Miss Christie's works, see the PBS website.
Related Links
- Agatha Christie Official Site
- Agatha Christie Trivia
- Christie Auction in Devon
- Review of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- Review of Murder on the Orient Express
- Review of Death on the Nile
