Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life

by Laura Thompson (Author)

Synopsis

The author of the Somerset Maugham award-winning The Dogs: A Personal History of Greyhound Racing, and the brilliant biography Life In A Cold Climate: Nancy Mitford, Laura Thompson turns her highly acclaimed biographical skills to arguably the greatest crime writer in the world, Agatha Christie. 'Laura Thompson's outstanding biography ...is a pretty much perfect capturing of a life' Kate Mosse, Book of the Year 2007 It has been 100 years since Agatha Christie wrote her first novel and created the formidable Hercule Poirot. In this biography, Laura Thompson describes the Edwardian world in which she grew up, explores the relationships she had, including those with her two husbands and daughter, and investigates the mysteries still surrounding Christie's life - including her disappearance in 1926. Agatha Christie is a mystery and writing about her is a detection job in itself. But, with access to all of Christie's letters, papers and writing notebooks, as well as interviews with her grandson, daughter, son-in-law and their living relations, Thompson is able to unravel not only the detailed workings of Christie's detective fiction, but the truth behind her private life as well. Praise for Laura Thompson 'Laura Thompson has certainly written the last word on Agatha Christie. Her book is a superb piece of biography' Literary Review 'Affectionate, admiring, perceptive and absolutely convincing' Sunday Telegraph 'This splendid account of [Christie's] life and work is unlikely to be bettered' Evening Standard 'A triumphant success' Daily Mail 'This book is a gem: fresh, intelligent and assured' Sunday Times 'Laura Thompson is a fine writer ...and one can't help admire the way she breathes new life into an intriguing tale' London Review of Books 'Laura Thompson delivers the goods: a compelling narrative' The Times

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 544
Publisher: Headline Review
Published: 10 Jul 2008

ISBN 10: 0755314883
ISBN 13: 9780755314881
Book Overview: With unique access to previously unpublished papers, this is a perceptive and stylish biography of Agatha Christie as a phenomoenon, a writer and a woman

Media Reviews
A triumphant success * A. N. Wilson, Daily Mail *
Highly accomplished * Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday *
'Thompson does a fabulous job of getting inside her head' * Rachel Cooke, Observer *
'A superlative and rapturously written biography' * Roger Lewis, Daily Express *
'The most definitive biography so far' * Andrea Mullaney, Scotland on Sunday *
'The last word on Agatha Christie... superb' * Charles Osborne, Literary Review *
'An excellent biography' * Jake Kerridge, Telegraph Review *
'Outstanding' * Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth *
'Laura Thompson brings Christie's life, thoughts and creative identity to life in fascinating and painstaking detail.' * Sophie Hannah, The Week *
Author Bio
A writer and freelance journalist, Laura Thompson won the Somerset Maugham award for her first book, THE DOGS, and is also the author of the critically acclaimed biography of Nancy Mitford, LIFE IN A COLD CLIMATE.