Known as the “Queen of Crime,” Agatha Christie was a prolific novelist and playwright from England. Some of her most-known works include books like And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. She invented beloved fictional detectives like the iconic Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. The Guinness Book of World Records even has an entry for Christie, listing her as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, given her record of having sold over two billion books in over 100 languages.
Beyond her professional life, Christie’s service in World War I, her personal romances, and her archeological expeditions make her a fascinating character to study in her own right.
Agatha Christie’s Early Life
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, better known as Agatha Christie, was born to Frederick and Clara Miller on September 15, 1890. Frederick was a wealthy American, and the family was considered upper-middle-class. She was the youngest of three, younger than her two siblings, Madge and Monty, by about a decade. The family lived near the sea in a large home in Torquay, near the coast of South Devon.
In terms of education, Christie was homeschooled. Her mother was a storyteller and wished to postpone her daughter’s learning to read until at least eight, but Christie, a bright, bored, and lonely child, taught herself at five.
The first seeds of the mystery phenomenon Christie would become were evident even in childhood, as she made up imaginary friends, read poetry and thrillers from America, and had a recurring nightmare surrounding a frightening figure she called “Gunman.”
As Christie grew and some of her father’s investments were floundering, the family rented out their home for a time and alternated back and forth between England and France, where Christie attended various boarding schools. Her time in France also cultivated her interests in singing and piano, a career she may have pursued if not for her shyness.
She began writing short stories mostly to stave off boredom. According to her autobiography, her mother suggested it to her as a way to entertain herself when she was around eighteen years old and down with influenza.
Love and War
What is known of Christie’s romantic endeavors starts in 1910, when Christie and her mother attended a debutante season in Cairo. During this time, she received—and rejected—a variety of proposals until she entered into an extended engagement with her friend Reginald Lucy.
During this long engagement, however, Agatha met Archie Christie, a member of the Royal Flying Corps, at a party, which sparked a whirlwind romance. Christie broke off her engagement to Lucy and married the aviator.
Christie’s courtship with her husband-to-be was tumultuous, as they were both poor and in the middle of the First World War. Both experienced the atrocities of the Great War firsthand, with Christie as a nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment in a Red Cross Hospital and Archie Christie in France.
They married on Christmas Eve in 1914, though they were often apart during the years to follow, at least until 1918 when Archie was transferred to London. In 1919, the couple had a daughter, Rosalind.
“First Aid and Home Nursing classes were popular during 1913, and at the beginning of 1914. We all went to these, bandaged each other’s legs and arms, and even attempted to do neat head-bandaging: much more difficult. We passed our exams, and got a small, printed card to prove our success. So great was female enthusiasm at this time that if any man had an accident, he was in mortal terror of ministering women closing in on him.
‘Don’t let those First Aiders come near me!’ The cry would rise. ‘Don’t touch me, girls. Don’t touch me!’”
― Agatha Christie,Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, p. 222
The war had a significant influence on Agatha’s writing. In particular, the creation of Hercule Poirot came about after her work helping Belgian refugees, a policeman in particular, inspired her famous detective.
The war also gave her extensive knowledge of the body and poison. Her expertise and vivid descriptions of poison in her books not only gave her the unexpected honor of receiving a review of her fiction in a Pharmaceutical Journal but also helped diagnose real-life poisonings.
“‘Oh, you still don’t understand,’ he said impatiently. ‘I’ve fallen in love with her, and I’d like you to give me a divorce as soon as it can be arranged.’ I suppose, with those words, that part of my life–my happy, successful confident life–ended. It was not as quick as that, of course–because I couldn’t believe.”
― Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, p. 351
Unfortunately, Christie’s wartime romance wasn’t to last. In 1926, her husband asked her for a divorce as he had fallen for another woman. Already struggling with depression due to the recent death of her mother, Agatha left her daughter in the care of her maids and vanished. This sparked a nationwide search until she was eventually found, potentially concussed and with memory difficulties, checked into a hotel under a pseudonym that shared the same last name as her husband’s lover.
Though there are noticeable differences, it is undeniable that her romantic relationships with Reginald and Archie and her disappearance in 1926 influenced her writing, particularly in her detective pair, Tommy and Tuppence.
Archeology
After her divorce was finalized, Agatha’s ex-husband remarried within a week. Christie left England and embarked on a period of travel. She boarded the Orient Express—perhaps sparking inspiration for her bestseller Murder on the Orient Express—to Istanbul and beyond. At some point, she befriended an archeologist couple who invited her on expeditions. During another, she met Max Mallowan, an archeologist who initially took Christie to be a tourist.
Despite this confusion and the fact that he was 13 years younger than Christie, the two married in 1930. Christie accompanied him on several more expeditions, using the inspiration gained during these travels in her work, and the pair remained together for the rest of Christie’s life.
Writing Career
“There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.”
― Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, p. 357
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920, was Christie’s first publication and the first of her Poirot series. The character proceeded to appear in 33 more novels and over 50 stories. Despite this, Christie soon grew to find Poirot “insufferable,” though—unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who suffered the same distaste for his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes—she resisted the temptation to kill the character off.
Though Poirot is her most famous character, Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster, is famous in her own right, having starred in twelve novels and around 20 stories. Lesser-known detectives include dynamic duo Thomas “Tommy” and Prudence “Tuppence” Beresford, who readers came to know in The Secret Adversary, as well as Harley Quin, Satterthwaite, and Parker Pyne.
When The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was adapted to the stage in 1928, Christie was displeased by the changes, sparking her own entrance into the world of playwriting. She made her own adaptations of several of her novels and wrote original plays, the most famous of which is The Mousetrap.
Beyond this, Christie wrote and released six titles, mostly romances, under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, allowing her to break away from her Queen of Crime persona. She also authored a few non-fiction pieces, such as her autobiography and other works surrounding her experiences with archaeological expeditions and her travels.
Later Life, Death, and Legacy
“Long walks are off, and alas, bathing in the sea; fillet steaks and apples and raw blackberries (teeth difficulties) and reading fine print. But there is a great deal left. Operas and concerts, and reading, and the enormous pleasure of dropping into bed and going to sleep, and dreams of every variety. Almost best of all, sitting in the sun–gently drowsing and there you are again–remembering.
I remember, I remember, the house where I was born….”
― Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, p. 529
In 1971, when Christie was 81, Queen Elizabeth II granted her damehood in honor of her prolific writing career. Damehood is an honorary title similar to knighthood, though it is the female equivalent. A British monarch might grant someone damehood for bravery, outstanding achievement, or contribution to the nation or its honor.
Christie continued writing for most of her life. The last time she appeared in public was in 1974, at the opening night of the play version of her book Murder on the Orient Express, which was good, beyond the fact that the detective’s mustache wasn’t extravagant enough. Due to a heart attack and fall that year, Christie was unable to continue writing. Her final Poirot novel, The Curtain, was released in 1975 under the supervision of her daughter, Rosalind.
The New York Times published an obituary in the Belgian detective’s honor, the first time of its kind for a fictional character.
Not even one year later, Agatha Christie died peacefully on January 12, 1976.
Sleeping Murder and Christie’s autobiography were also released by Rosalind in the years following the Queen of Crime’s death. However, though Christie is no longer around to produce more, her legacy lives on. There have been several movie adaptations of her books, such as the recent series of Poirot adaptations featuring Kenneth Branagh as Poirot. Additionally, her play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest-running show in the world, running continuously since its premiere at The Ambassadors Theatre in London in 1952 until March 16, 2020, where closings from the pandemic caused the nearly 70-year streak to meet its end.
