Top 10 Surprising facts about Agatha Christie that might shock you!
“Very few of us are what we seem.” - Agatha Christie
How well do you know your favorite authors? Which Agatha Christie fact did you find most surprising?
In recent years I’ve decided to expand my literary horizons and step out of my comfort zone, and while dipping my toes in various different genres, I came to the realization that I might have found a new love in detective fiction. The suspense, the mystery, the drama - it’s everything I need to bind me to the edge of my seat in anticipation of what would come next. Naturally, one cannot go about exploring the adventures of the greatest detective minds in fiction without stumbling across the works of one of the undisputed masters of the genre - Agatha Christie.
Known for her cleverly devised mysteries and complex characters, Christie’s works have been translated into a staggering 103 languages, and have sold over 2 billion copies worldwide. Needless to say, she understood how to cook up a mystery! Her skill and writing style were so iconic that I couldn’t help myself but to research more about the remarkable mind that sprung characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. And what I found was staggering! It’s safe to say that the queen of intricate plots had some twists of her own during her time. So buckle up for my pick of the top 10 surprising facts about Agatha Christie that might shock you!
Oh, and make sure to check out our guide on “How To Read Agatha Christie’s Books in the Best Order?”
The Mysterious Disappearance
Guinness World Record Holder
Did You Know About Mary Westmacott?
She Was An Archeological Adventurer
Who Needs Formal Education Anyway?
Writing Under Severe Duress
Fear of Fame
The Mousetrap Phenomenon
Pharmaceutical Beginnings
How Did Agatha Christie Die?
The Mysterious Disappearance
I think by now we’re all familiar with the concept of “method actors” - those thespians who immerse themselves completely in a role to the point of living a life as similar as that of their character. Well, Agatha Christie might have just been the first “method detective fiction writer”. In 1926 she simply disappeared, without a trace, for 11 days. Her sudden status as a “missing person” sparked a wildfire in the press and thousands of volunteers, including fellow detective fiction writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L. Sayers, joined the hunt for information of her whereabouts.
Christie was eventually discovered, alone and in a spa hotel, with no memory of how she got there, or where she’d been for the past 11 days. To this day there is a debate going on about whether it was a case of abduction, amnesia, or simply a well-executed publicity stunt. Either way, the true details of “Agatha Christie’s disappearance” remain unsolved and will likely continue to be so, if Hercule Poirot himself doesn’t take on the case.
Guinness World Record Holder
You probably had an idea already that Agatha Christie was a famous author but it might shock you to find out how massive of an effect she’s had on the literary world. In fact, Christie is a Guinness World Record holder for being “the best-selling novelist of all time”. Yep, read that again. Bet you thought someone else would have swapped that title, but Agatha Christie has sold over 2 billion books worldwide, making her only superiors in print Shakespeare and The Bible. Talk about being part of an exclusive club.
Did You Know About Mary Westmacott?
As mentioned above, Agatha Christie is one of the undisputed great novelists of all time. Her impact on the literary world was so great that entire generations of world-famous writers stand on her shoulders. In fact, whenever her name is mentioned, your mind probably immediately associates her with her works in crime and detective fiction. So would it shock you to find out that she also wrote romance novels?
Writing under the pseudonym “Mary Westmacott”, Agatha Christie produced not one, not two, but a total of six romance novels, who are so different from her usual “whodunnit” works that you’d never guess they were written by the same person. I guess even the best-selling novelist of all time needed to branch out of her comfort zone every once in a while.
Did you know that Agatha Christie’s books have been translated into more than 102 languages?
Archeological Adventurer
Sometimes you need to re-write a novel draft to create a masterpiece. Sometimes, you need to marry twice to find a life filled with adventure. Agatha Christie’s second husband was an archeologist, who constantly brought the author with him on expeditions and dig sites. Her travels, especially through Africa and the Middle East, heavily inspired some of her novels, such as Death on the Nile. It was writing from actual experience that brough the vivid scenery of those magical places to life in her pages.
Who Needs Formal Education Anyway?
Agatha Christie is a genuine testiment to the fact that creativity, and even literacy, are not a sole product of classroom confinement. It might shock you to learn that the best selling author was home-schooled and had no degree of formal education whatsoever. That didn’t stop her from crafting some of literature’s most intricate plots and jaw-dropping twists, as well as outshining her peers at every turn.
Writing Under Severe Duress
As much as authors like Christie might seem like creatures of almost demi-god intellectual and creative genius, we mustn’t forget that they are, in fact, human. And even the best of the best have their days off. While the quality of her work never wavered, despite the ups and downs of her turbulent life, Christie’s book “Postern of Fate” wasn’t exactly on the same level as her previous works, and was subsequentially penned by critics as having a much lower structure and plot quality than what the author normally produced. Unfortunately, Postern of Fate was written during Christie’s ongoing battle with dementia, which she tried to hide for quite some time. Whatever critics may say, it is a true testament to Agatha Christie’s dedication and commitment to her craft that not even dementia could deter her from doing what she’d set her mind upon.
Fear of Fame
Despite creating some of the most iconic and famous characters in fiction, Agatha Christie feared becoming one herself. She was not fond of public appearances and would avoid doing interviews whenever she could. She also famously ducked out of her own play’s premiere. All of this led to her rarely doing book tours or active promotions for any of her works, making the fact that she received the Guinness World Record award for “the best selling novelist of all time” even more impressive.
The Mousetrap Phenomenon
I already mentioned that Agatha Christie regularly branched out of her detective fiction comfort zone, having written 6 romance novels. But even more interesting than her work as Mary Westmacott was her attempt at becoming a playwright. Titled “The Mousetrap”, her play opened in London in 1952, and despite Christie famously ducking out of the premiere, it went on to becoming a smashing hit. What’s even more shocking is that it’s still running today! And if that wasn’t enough, it also holds the world record for “the longest continuous run”. I guess that’s one way to set a trap that lasts…
Pharmaceutical Beginnings
While Agatha Christie will always be remembered for her brilliant fiction, very few nowadays are aware of her dabbling in the world of pharmaceuticals during World War 1. Her stint with pharmacy work wasn’t a mere job - it was proper hands-on research on the effects of poisons on the body, which became invaluable to her literary career.
During the war, Christie was a volunteer nurse, mostly tending to wounded soldiers, but she later transitioned to working in a hospital’s pharmacy. In that capacity, she became intimately familiar with various chemical compounds and substances, their properties, their effects on the human body, and their potential for misuse. So it might not come as a surprise that most of the murders in her novels involve the clever use of poisons, from the infamous “sparking cyanide” to the lesser-known thallium in “The Pale Horse”.
How Did Agatha Christie Die?
When Agatha Christie passed away in 1976, it was a blow to the entire literary world. But much like the twisted turns in her stories, her death is still shrouded in mystery.
The official records state that the author died of natural causes at her home in Winterbrook House in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Given her advanced age of 85 and her full and vibrant life, that seemed like the most straightforward conclusion. But is anything ever so straightforward in the world of mystery writing?
Even today, there are multiple sources that dispute the official records, with stories about her death ranging from well-crafted theories to wild (and unlikely) conspiracies. Many believe that there was some connection between her unsolved disappearance almost 50 years prior and her passing, citing unresolved trauma, stress or even potentially undiagnosed injuries. Others speculate that her battle with dementia, coupled with life under the constant spotlight of public pressure, was what finally did her in. Finally, some truly imaginative theorists wonder whether Christie didn’t experiment with pharmaceuticals and poisons on herself, in order to better understand their effects for her literary works. This theory doesn’t hold much water though, given that there was no proof of any wrongdoing during the official examinations that followed.
While Agatha Christie’s death might not have been a case worthy of a whodunnit, her recluse personality and her vibrant, yet enigmatic life, has made people wonder about the last chapter of her story ever since. But much like in some of her works, perhaps the most straightforward answer is the right one. But whatever the cause of her death might have been, it is undisputed that Agatha Christie left behind a legacy that continues to captivate and intrigue audiences to this day.