Agatha Christie Biography | Life | Books | Movies and Facts

Agatha Christie is one of the most popular and renowned authors of all time. She is often referred as ‘The Queen of Crime’ for her magnificent work. Christie has written 66 detective novels and also has 14 short story collections. The novelist is known for her renowned books like The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile.

Early Life of Agatha Christie

Agatha was born on 15th of Sep in 1890. She was born in an upper middle class family but faced financial difficulties in her life after her father’s death in 1901. Christie was educated at home by her mother. She used to live alone with her mother in Ashfield. In 1905 she was sent to Paris by her mother for education. Where she focused on skills like voice training and piano playing but midway she realised that she lacked the  talent and temperament required for becoming an Opera singer or a concert Pianist. Once Christie stated that her father’s death (when she was 11) marked the end of her childhood.

Career and Marriage 

At the age of 18 Christie wrote her first short story ‘The House of Beauty’. This short story was written by her when she was recovering from an illness. The House of Beauty’s subject was about ‘madness and dreams’, which were fascinating subjects for her. Many claim that the novelist was also drawn to subjects like paranormal and spiritualism. She also started working on her first novel ‘Snow Upon the Desert’. Meanwhile Christie was a lot into social activities like riding, hunting, dancing and roller skating. In an event in 1912 she was introduced to Archie (Son of a barrister in the Indian Civil Services). Soon the duo came close and even married on Christmas Eve in 1914.

But during this period The First World War broke out and Archie was sent to France. Christie also involved herself in the War efforts and joined the Red Cross as a Nurse. In 1918 her war service as a nurse ended. She had a liking for detective novels and was a fan of novels like The Moonstone and The Woman in White. And finally in 1920 she wrote her first novel ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ which introduced the famous character ‘Hercule Poirot’. Hercule was a Belgian detective. The character was known for his magnificent moustaches. This detective appeared in 25 novels and many short stories. Christie got inspiration for the detective character from the Belgian refugees living in Torquay.

By now Christie was well settled in her life and had also given birth to a girl child ‘Rosalind’. In 1926 tragedy broke upon her as her mother ‘Clarissa Miller’ died. Agatha went into a deep depression because of her mother’s death. And even Archie asked Agatha for a divorce as he had fallen in love with ‘Nancy Neele’. 

Agatha Christie’s Rise to Fame 

Agatha Christie rose to fame with her 1926 book ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’. This was followed by tons of books, mostly being on the bestseller list. After her separation with Archie, Christie got custody of her daughter. After this episode she left for Istanbul via Simplon. She later went to Iraq where she met Leonard Woolley (an archaeologist). Where she was introduced to an archaeologist (Max Mullowan). Later the novelist married Sir Max Mullowan in 1930. After which Christie and Mullowan used to spend several months on expeditions in Syria and Iran every year. During this phase she also wrote some romantic novels like ‘Absent in the Spring’ under the pseudonym of ‘Mary Westmacott’. The couple also bought a house ‘Winterbrook House’ near Wallingford, the house also bears a Blue Plaque (an English Heritage sign which signifies that someone special had lived in the residence). On January 12th in 1976 she died at the age of 85 at her residence ‘Winterbrook House’.

Few Facts about Christie

In 1926 the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie made headlines. She disappeared from her place after the quarrel between the then husband and wife (Agatha and Archie), after their divorce announcement. There are many speculations regarding the story. Some say it was a publicity stunt by the novelist to frame Archie. But there are people who believe that the event was caused during her nervous breakdown when she wasn’t in a state to handle her emotions and actions.

In 1946 Christie herself gave a site to her likes and dislikes. The novelist stated that she dislikes loud noise, crowds, gramophones and cinemas. Meanwhile she liked the sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange food, sports, concerts, theatre and pianos.

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