Agatha Christie is well known as a master mystery writer, yet many know nothing about the mysteries of Dame Agatha’s life. Her eleven-day disappearance is often omitted from stories concerning the writer, as is much of her life. Little is written about her family life and the actual writing of the stories that we all know and love, but Richard hack has no produced a book that answers many of those questions.
The Duchess of Death does a fine job of informing the reader of what was occurring to Ms. Christie as she wrote her various books. The huge output of fiction that came from her pen is astounding, some years she produced three books – each of a high and distinct quality. All the while she managed to travel and assist her second husband in his work as a world class Archeologist.
The book does delve into her family life. The bitter divorce with Mr. Christie and the estrangement and bitterness of her daughter that eventually grew into a rich and rewarding relationship, as Agatha’s daughter became her literary protector throughout the years is a compelling part of this book. We see far too many stories of famous people who have their families destroyed by success.
The most interesting part of this book was saved for the tax matters of Ms. Christie, who like other authors were nearly destroyed by the IRS here and the tax collectors in her own country. I remember that the unique schemes authors had to employ to earn a living off of their work is maddening. The same today, as the government wishes to take more and more and we see less for our troubles.
Overall, I found this book to be quite enjoyable, though I did no research on the author or any of his previous work. This looks to be a well researched and thorough review of the Ms. Christie’s life. Read and enjoy, I know I picked up a copy of Death on the Nile myself…
September 10th, 2009 by jweaver | Comments