(840) An Autobiography by Agatha Christie

This is a rather thick book, all 551 pages of it. I feel very blessed when my daughter, Elizabeth, borrowed it from her uni library for me. Had she chosen to take up a study loan and gone to USA, I would not be writing this blog.

To you, there may not be any thing special about getting hold of this book. I have been buying Christie book one at a time. Through the years, my family has collected 62 books of hers. Many a time, I saw this autobiography in a book shop. But I have never thought of spending about $100 to buy it brand new.

After reading in between the lines through many detective novels of hers, it is wonderful to find out more about her as a person as she told it straight in the book. Here I will focus on one incident: the mother of Christie's death and Christie's decision to grief alone.

Logically speaking, Christie had one sister and a brother; she need not take it upon herself to spend months clearing her childhood home. Moreover, by then she had much funds. She also had quite a number of women whom she trusted as secretary, nanny or house keeper. Surely she could make arrangement to have a small team of trusted retainers to sift through those things and she herself went one afternoon every weekend to make final decisions on what to keep and what to throw or sell.

But I suppose she had neglected her mother's advise that a woman's place is by her husband. Particularly that Christie's first husband was the type that was rather attractive to other women. When she turned down her husband's suggestion that they both spend a few months in Spain, the die was cast. A few month's separation opened the door to her husband having the opportunity to see other women in gay London; he promptly fell head over heel in love with a woman he did not fancy just a a few years previously.

But I suppose it is rather good riddance to bad rubbish! A man like that is liable to fail his wife in the most delicate situation. It is good fortune for Christie to be rid of this unfaithful man when she was young enough to dare to take on a second husband. She made an excellent choice! An archaeologist would not cast aside an aging wife for a newer model. Finally, she has a person she could depend on by her side for the rest of her life.