Celebrity exclusive
From her passion for fast cars and surfing to sparking a national manhunt, there is a lot to discover about Dame Agatha Christie, thinks historian Lucy Worsley, who has been inspired to write a new book on the original queen of crime
More than 100 years after her first book was published, Dame Agatha Christie remains a firm favourite for many of us. She’s the most read writer of all time, her play The Mousetrap is the longest-running West End show and her books are still being made into Hollywood films. But despite her fame, she remains an elusive character.
This is partly because Agatha guarded her privacy after she became a cause célèbre in 1926 when her car was found abandoned beside a quarry on a country road. She’d just discovered that her husband, Archie, was leaving her for another woman and, when a national manhunt by journalists tracked her down to a spa hotel in Harrogate 11 days later, there was suspicion she’d been trying to frame him for murder.
In a new biography about Agatha, Lucy Worsley throws light on the mystery of what really happened and gives a fresh perspective on our most successful female writer ever.
What appealed to you about Agatha Christie?
I had intense bursts of pleasure reading her books growing up and, when I became a historian, I realised the woman herself was interesting. Studying her life is a good way of thinking about the history of women in the 20th century – being a nurse in the First World War, earning money, dealing with divorce, experiencing celebrity culture, travelling the world, experiencing the Second World War and entering the film world and entertainment business as it began to take shape. She became a sort of global brand. She represents a whole lot of themes from the 20th century.
What opinion did you have of her when you started writing your book?
A lot of people still have the idea that she is somehow unlikable, somebody who did something wrong. This idea came from the negative coverage in 1926 when she went missing. The newspaper barons wanted women to buy daily papers and the story was perfect sales material, so they went to town on it. Unfortunately, she lost control of the narrative, so it went to a dark place with the idea she’d framed her cheating husband for her murder. It’s a great story, but it’s not a true story.
What do you think is the true story?
You can see why people were doubtful, but she’d clearly suffered six months of what we’d call pretty severe depression. Her mother had died and her husband had left her. It had been reported that she’d had a breakdown. And that was before the 11 days she went missing when she went into what I’d call a dissociative fugue state, when you supp
