I was disappointed with this biography as I didn’t feel that the author left me feeling as if I knew Agatha Christie any better than I did before I read it. However this was a family authorized biography and I am sure that this publicity shy family had many conditions and exceptions laid out before they allowed the author access to the author’s private papers. Agatha Christie, A Biography gives a surface overview of the author’s life, but leaves one with little or no information about the inner workings of this brilliant author’s mind.

I expect Miss Christie herself would have been pleased with this book as she consistently avoided the press. She disliked giving interviews and never agreed to appear on television. She did not discuss her writing process and saw no good reason why the public should expect a window into her life or mind. What does come across in this book is that she felt her writing was secondary to her roles of wife and mother. She strove to live a conventional and quiet life. The one incident that is often referred to is her strange disappearance when her car was found abandoned and she could not be located. Some said this was a publicity-stunt, which doesn’t ring true when she went out of her way to avoid any publicity, while others thought that she was suffering from amnesia. The author explains this incident as a time in her life when her marriage was going sour and her mother had recently died. Her husband had just announced that he was leaving her for another woman and she was suffering from depression.

I will always admire this author and love her mysteries but I think in the future I will honour her wish for privacy and not read anything more about her private life. Her wonderful characters, sparkling dialogue and intriguing mysteries are certainly enough for me. ( )

Excellent biography of Christie, though a bit heavy on her theatrical writings and a little light on her later years. ( )

Agatha is driven to write books, the stories spill out when as a young married woman she seeks to earn a living.

oops sorry for misattributing it. G