Known for novels like ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘The Mystery of the Blue Train,’ Agatha Christie was a renowned writer of mystery plots and ranked among the best-selling authors globally.
Similar to John Grisham and the esteemed Mark Twain, Agatha Christie herself is a legend and stands out in her own right.
She is recognized as one of the most celebrated authors in history, with book sales second only to William Shakespeare, having sold over four billion copies worldwide.
Who was Agatha Christie?
Initially named Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, she was born in Torquay, Devon, in the southwest of England, on September 15, 1890, and was educated at home.
Her formative years were largely spent with her parents, dogs, and imaginary companions.
Agatha started crafting mystery stories while serving as a nurse in a hospital during World War I. Her works have been translated into over a hundred languages.
Early Life of Agatha Christie
Agatha’s father passed away from a heart attack when she was eleven, leading to a relocation due to financial constraints.
At the age of twelve, Agatha was sent to boarding schools, where she was expected to learn piano and singing.
Fascinated with role-playing and devising characters, she went to Paris at 16 to study singing and piano.
Christie’s social life flourished as she engaged in country house events, horseback riding, hunting, dancing, and roller skating. She described herself in 1946 as, “I detest large crowds, clamor, phonographs, and movie theaters. I do not appreciate the taste of alcohol and disapprove of smoking. I am fond of sunshine, the sea, flowers, travel, exotic cuisine, sports, concerts, theaters, pianos, and embroidery.”
Relationship
She had four brief romances and became engaged to another. Archibald “Archie” Christie was introduced to her at a ball in October 1912, and they quickly fell in love.
Archie proposed to Agatha three months after they met, and she accepted. She married Colonel Archibald Christie, a Royal Flying Corps pilot, in 1914 and began working as a nurse during World War I.
From Obscurity to Prominence
After facing six consecutive rejections as a writer, her fortunes changed in 1920 with the publication of ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles,’ featuring detective Hercule Poirot.
Hercule Poirot, a peculiar and egotistic Belgian investigator, emerged in a series of Agatha Christie novels, starring in around 25 novels and several short stories, propelling her to fame with this fictional character.
Agatha’s Challenges
Some critics argue that Agatha’s desire to maintain strict control over her finances posed challenges in her marriage to Archie. The couple had a heated argument on the evening of December 3, 1926, leading Archie to leave their home for a few days, presumably to be with his mistress.
Agatha then entrusted her daughter to the maid and disappeared herself later that night, initiating one of the most enduring mysteries she had ever concocted.
Despite Archie having an affair with Nancy Neale, his 25-year-old secretary and mistress, Christie’s mother passed away in 1926, prompting her husband to file for divorce.
The Puzzling Disappearance of Agatha Christie
Archie, in a fit of rage, spent the night of December 3, 1926, with his mistress after reporting his wife missing the subsequent morning.
Agatha Christie, an English author of mystery novels, had vanished from her Berkshire home, creating a sensational story akin to one of Christie’s famous mysteries.
On the night of December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie left her Berkshire house after 9:30 p.m. She bid farewell to her sleeping seven-year-old daughter Rosalind and descended downstairs. She then departed in her car, a Morris Cowley, heading into the night and disappeared on December 4, 1926. Her absence persisted for 11 days.
When her disappearance was reported, the police began searching for her and found her abandoned car atop a chalk quarry, with her license and clothing inside, shortly after. The Silent Pool, a natural spring near the car’s location, was linked to the tragic deaths of two young children.
Speculation in the media arose suggesting that the author might have intentionally drowned herself. Her disappearance sparked one of the most extensive manhunts in history, with the use of aircraft for the first time in such a search.
At the time, the public response was highly critical, with many suspecting a publicity stunt or an attempt to frame her husband for her death. However, her body was never found, and suicide seemed improbable given her burgeoning literary career.
Both Archie Christie and his mistress Nancy Neale were accused of abducting Agatha, sparking a significant search involving thousands of police officers and fervent volunteers.
Arthur Conan Doyle, a renowned occultist, sought to solve the mystery using his psychic abilities, presenting one of Christie’s gloves to a well-known medium in an effort to obtain answers. A few days later, authorities discovered her at a Harrogate hotel.
When Archie approached Agatha at the hotel, witnesses observed a general state of bewilderment, indicating little recognition for the person she had been married to for over 12 years.
News of her disappearance had spread worldwide within two weeks of the investigation, even making front-page news in The New York Times. Christie was unable to provide any information about the events and had no recollection of them.
Agatha’s Mental Health Struggles
At the time, Archie Christie attributed his wife’s struggles to amnesia and a potential concussion, which were later substantiated by two physicians.
He claimed that her memory loss was a result of the car accident. However, according to writer Andrew Norman, the author may have been in a ‘fugue’ state, a rare condition caused by trauma or depression.
Agatha’s Second Marriage
Eventually divorcing Archibald in 1928, Christie encountered and married her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, in 1930.
She accompanied Max on several of his expeditions, deepening her interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt. Later, she married Max Mallowan, an archaeological expert. In her twilight years, Christie published over 70 mystery novels and numerous short stories despite a decline in her health between 1971 and 1974.
Agatha Christie passed away peacefully at her home in Winterbrook House on January 12, 1976, at the age of 85, leaving behind a substantial literary legacy, including a biography about herself.
In 2000, journalist John Ezard interviewed the daughter of Christie’s sister-in-law and friend, Nan Watts, for The Guardian newspaper. She disclosed that she had learned the truth about the events from her mother and Christie as a young girl.
“Later, she just sat in her hotel room, hiding away… But she had signed the guest register under the name Neele – her husband’s lover’s surname… It was meticulously planned… She wanted Archie back… She wanted to shock him… If she had amnesia, she wouldn’t have signed the register with the other woman’s name… My mother helped her because she was distraught. I think she approached my mother because she had been through a divorce. [Mrs. Christie] never did it for publicity. That was the last thing on her mind. She was very upset and shocked – it all went awry.”
Final Verdict
In an article by John Ezard, he revealed that her first wedding ring and Mr. Christie’s letters were discovered in her writing case after her death in 1976.
Even Hercule Poirot would have struggled to unravel the enigma left behind by Agatha Christie. Hence, the most captivating of all Christie’s stories remains a mystery!
