Jane Marple, known as Miss Marple, is the favorite character of Agatha Christie's detectives. Marple is an old maid, an amateur detective living in the small English village of St. Mary's Mead.

The prototype of Miss Marple was the grandmother of Agatha Christie, who, according to the writer, "was a good-natured person, but always expected the worst from everyone and everything, and with frightening regularity her expectations were justified."

Miss Marple first appeared in a story "Thirteen Mysterious Cases", which was published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, and in 1930 Miss Marple becomes the main character in the novel "Murder at the Vicarage".

In 1940, Agatha Christie wrote a novel "Forgotten Murder", the last of the Miss Marple series, but did not publish it so as not to upset readers who were waiting for the old woman's new adventures. The novel was published only in 1976, some time after the death of Christie herself.

Between 1942 and 1971, ten more novels were published in which the main character was Miss Marple. She also appears in the collection of short stories. "Miss Marple's Last Things".

According to the grandson of the writer Matthew Pritchard, of the characters she invented, Christie liked Miss Marple more - "an old, smart, traditional English lady."

Miss Jane Marple is an old maid who lives modestly in the small English village of St Mary Mead. Her main occupations are caring for plants in a small garden and various social tasks, which she performs often and willingly (for example, collecting donations for various local events).

Periodically, she gets out somewhere to visit friends, relatives or just relax. He constantly knits something, gives knitted things to friends, relatives, or gives to charity. Very curious. In his village, he knows everything about everyone, is keenly interested in the life of his neighbors, is always aware of all events, rumors and gossip. She has no relatives in the village, only friends, which include most of the elderly neighbors. Her nephew Raymond is a writer, he lives in the USA, sometimes comes to London, does not forget his aunt and occasionally helps her.

Miss Marple looks unpresentable, her speech can often seem incoherent and confused, but at the same time the old lady has a strong character and a magnificent analytical mind, which she exercises by solving life path mysteries and oddities.

The novels about Miss Marple are devoted to cases when murders take place somewhere near her, she immediately begins her own investigation. The police disapproving of her presence, although some police officers respect her and consult her as the case progresses.

Miss Marple suspects everyone, regardless of reputation, social status and personal sympathies. She evaluates the facts as she sees them, not trying to build hasty versions. Rich life experience allows her to pay attention to details that often elude professional detectives.

Finally, the appearance and demeanor of a pleasant old woman - gossips make it possible, without arousing suspicion, to talk with people on a variety of topics, ask about their personal and family life, relatives, money matters, ask to see a family album, ask a lot of immodest questions and get answers to them.

Three new feature films about the investigations and other adventures of the famous heroine - detective Agatha Christie named Miss Marple will appear on British television in 2013. The news was cause for celebration among fans of the writer and her most important character.

ITV Corporation has stated that the first film to be filmed in South Africa, will be called "Caribbean Mystery". The favorite of the audience will play the main role in all three new films Julia Mackenzie. According to the plot, instead of relaxing calmly and carefree on the stunning beauty of the beach, the old woman is engaged in uncovering the mystery of another murder. This time the victim is Miss Marple's hotel roommate.

Ecrule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is a literary character of the writer Agatha Christie, a Belgian detective, main character 33 novels and 51 short stories written between 1920 and 1975 and made into films, television series, theater and radio shows.

Poirot is small in stature, with an egg-shaped head, black hair, which he begins to dye with age, "cat's eyes", strictly well-groomed clothes, shoes (patent leather shoes) and a mustache, which are the subject of his pride. Poirot's manner of dressing becomes obsolete over the years. Poirot always keeps his home clean. Perfect order reigns in his house, and everything is in its place. This almost manic passion for order helps him in solving crimes. Poirot is very punctual and carries a pocket watch. He always adheres to a strictly defined balance in the bank account - 444 pounds 4s 4d.

Poirot is not modest and openly calls himself a great man. He tries to complete the investigation with a dramatic ending, sometimes even with theatrical elements. That is why he never devotes either Captain Hastings or Inspector Japp to his conclusions, but leaves all the details and the solution of the next puzzle to the "last act".

Revealing family dramas and love secrets in the process of investigation, even some minor crimes, he makes them public only when absolutely necessary.

During his entire stay in England, Poirot was never interested in women. He himself said that women were his weakness, but he did not fall in love with anyone. The detective fell in love only once in Belgium, when he was young and worked in the police, but this romance was not successful.

Poirot speaks fluent English, but sometimes speaks with a heavy accent. He explains it in the novel "Tragedy in three acts": when he speaks with a strong accent, everyone starts to think that he is a simple foreigner who can’t even speak English, and they don’t pay attention to him. This helps Poirot catch the killer without scaring him off.

Poirot is a Belgian immigrant, a former policeman. This served as an explanation in the first book about him. "The Mysterious Incident at Stiles" why is such an experienced detective out of work in the countryside - after all, Belgium during the action and writing of the novel was occupied by Germany. Agatha Christie wrote in her "Autobiographies" that in the city of Torquay, where she lived, there were many Belgian emigrants.

For some time, Poirot worked as a private detective and kept his own detective agency, where Miss Lemon worked. The action of many novels begins there. The latest cases of Poirot, in the description of which the detective agency appears, are published in the collection "The Labors of Hercules". In subsequent works, the detective agency is not mentioned. However, Poirot still acts as a professional private detective, and not as an amateur.

Back in 1930, Agatha Christie called Poirot "intolerable", and in 1960 "vile, pompous, tedious, self-centered, inactive". But the readers loved him, and Christy did not leave the character, considering it her duty to them. Poirot dies only a year before Agatha Christie's death in the novel "Curtain" published in 1975. The action takes place in Styles, where his triumphant career in England began. Hercule Poirot was the only fictional character to receive an obituary on the front page of The New York Times: "August 6, 1975. Hercule Poirot, famous Belgian detective, dies."

At this time, the rights to the character belong to the grandson of the writer Matthew Pritchard.

Colonel Flight

Colonel Race is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. Reis is a very smart ex-British intelligence agent who travels the world looking for international criminals. He is an employee of the MI5 espionage department. He is a tall, well built, tanned man. Appears in four Agatha Christie novels. He first appears in The Man in the Brown Suit, a spy detective story set in South Africa. He will also appear in two Hercule Poirot novels. "Cards on the table" and "Death on the Nile" where Poirot assists in his investigation. He later appears in the 1944 novel "Sparkling Cyanide" where he investigates the murder of his old friend. In this novel, Reis has already reached an advanced age. David Niven played Colonel Race in the 1978 film Death on the Nile.

Superintendent Battle

Superintendent Battle (Eng. Superintendent Battle). Fictional detective, the hero of five novels by Agatha Christie. Battle is entrusted with sensitive cases related to secret societies and organizations, as well as cases affecting the interests of the state and state secrets. The superintendent is a highly successful employee of Scotland Yard, he is a cultured and intelligent policeman who rarely shows his emotions. Christie doesn't talk much about him, so Battle's name remains unknown. It is known about Battle's family that his wife's name is Mary and that they have five children.

Parker Pine

Parker Pyne. Hero 12 stories included in the collection "Investigates Parker Pine", and also partially in collections "The Secret of the Regatta and Other Stories" and "Trouble in Pollença and Other Stories". The Parker Pine series is not detective fiction in the conventional sense. The plot is usually based not on a crime, but on the story of Pine's clients, who, for various reasons, are dissatisfied with their lives. It is these grievances that bring clients to Pine's agency. In this series of works, for the first time, Miss Lemon who leaves Pine's job to take a job as a secretary to Hercule Poirot.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford (eng. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford). Full names Thomas Beresford and Prudence Cowley are a young couple of amateur detectives who first appear in the novel. "Mysterious Enemy" 1922, not yet married. They begin their lives blackmailing (for money and out of interest), but soon discover that private investigation brings more money and pleasure. In 1929, Tuppence and Tomy appear in a collection of short stories. "Partners in Crime", in 1941 in "N or M?", in 1968 in "Click your finger just once", and for the last time in the novel "Gate of Destiny" 1973, which was Agatha Christie's last written novel, although not the last to be published. Unlike the rest of Agatha Christie's detectives, Tommy and Tuppence age with the real world and with each successive novel. So, by the last novel where they appear, they are in their seventies.

Agatha Christie is a famous English writer, prose writer, author of plays and popular detective novels. It was her pen that owned the stories of such cult detectives as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, who can compete with the fame of the unforgettable Sherlock Holmes (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

Biography and essay on the work of Agatha Christie, no doubt, will be quite useful and interesting for our readers.

short biography

Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallone (before her second marriage - Miller), who later became famous as the writer Agatha Christie, was born in a small English town. The girl's parents were fairly wealthy emigrants from the United States of America. Three children grew up in the family: Agatha, as well as her brother Louis and sister Margaret.

The biography of Agatha Christie is poor in events, at least in early years writer's life. Agatha's father died early, and the family lived in poverty. The girl did not study well and changed several educational institutions while she was interested in music.

Christy could have become a musician and performed on stage, but, unfortunately, her innate shyness put an end to her youthful dreams. However, this is for the best - who knows, if the girl became a famous pianist, she could write good detective stories?

When the First World War began in the early twentieth century, Agatha went to work in a hospital for the wounded of the military, as a nurse. This gave her invaluable life experience. It is known, by the way, that a young, yet unknown nurse began to write her first novel just while working in a hospital.

When the war ended, the future famous writer trained as a pharmacist. Thanks to this, she, having become the author of detective works, was able to describe poisonings with the help of various toxic substances quite reliably.

The very first detective novel by this author, who changed his cumbersome name to a euphonious pseudonym, was written in 1915. True, the public was able to get acquainted with this work only in 1920, since until that moment all publishers had rejected it.

The famous English writer was married twice, and if the prose writer divorced one man (his name was Archibald) with a scandal, then with the second - archaeologist Maxis Malone - she lived in a happy marriage for 45 years.

There is also an autobiographical work: “Agatha Christie. Autobiography".

It will be useful for the reader to know some instructive and fun facts about the famous writer:

• Agatha Christie was honored to be awarded the Order of the British Empire, received the title of noblewoman - "lady", and her biography invariably diverges in huge numbers.
• Christie signed some of her works with the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
• According to some researchers, the writer suffered from incurable diseases: someone calls Alzheimer's disease, and someone - dysgraphia.
• Agatha Christie happened to disappear, frightening the entire world community: when her husband asked for a divorce, the author of detective stories disappeared for eleven whole days and was even put on the national wanted list.
• In the books of the English writer, exactly 83 murders were committed using highly toxic poisons.
• The autobiographical story of Agatha Christie ends with the following phrase: "Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful life and for all the love that was given to me."

The great writer died in the seventies of the twentieth century, when she was 85 years old. The cause of death was a severe cold. Her body was buried in the village of Cholsey, in a small rural cemetery. For more than forty years, the grave of the great writer has become an object of pilgrimage for her many fans.

Even during her lifetime, Agatha Christie received the proud title of "Queen of Detectives" from the British and American press.

Contribution to literature

Peru of this writer owns many literary works. There are two major cycles of her novels about great detectives: the adventures of Hercule Poirot, a funny Belgian eccentric detective; as well as a series of stories about Miss Marple, a sweet and respectable elderly lady, the prototype of which is called Agatha Christie herself, as well as her elderly, but sharp-witted grandmother.

Such different heroes of Agatha Christa - detectives, spies, priests, criminals and politicians - are united by an extraordinary mind, insight, a desire for justice, and also, which may even seem funny, a complete lack of attention to the opposite sex. Christie's heroes are passionate about their life's work, devoted to duty and ideals, have strong and indestructible principles, but are not at all ambitious.

It must also be mentioned that literary works Agatha Christie has been filmed many times. Even the most notable film adaptations won't fit on one page. Here is some of them:

• "Murder on the Orient Express".
• Agatha Christie's Poirot.
• "Ten blacks."
• "Big Alibi"
• "Miss Marple".
• "Mousetrap".

And this is not a complete list of adaptations of her novels.

According to the cycle about Hercule Poirot, a series was even filmed, which is now quite popular, including several well-developed seasons. But Miss Marple was not left without her own series: a feature film was made, consisting of many parts, in which the main roles were played by wonderful English, as well as American theater and film actors.

In addition to detective stories, Agatha Christie also worked on several screenplays and plays for theaters, and occasionally wrote poetry and stories for children.

Under another pseudonym, the English writer also published psychological novels - thrillers, as they would be called today. These psychological novels, like, in principle, her detective fiction, were distinguished by a twisted, extraordinary plot and eventful action that kept the reader in suspense right up to the very last page.

In general, the work of the famous Englishwoman was really heterogeneous, rich in new plot denouement, devices and intrigues that had not been previously used by other writers.

Agatha Christie can be called a truly great writer. Her works occupy the third line in the list of the most published books, second only to the Bible and William Shakespeare. The writer wrote more than sixty novels, wrote creepy thrillers under a different pseudonym, and was also the author of several plays that immediately appeared in the repertoires of the most famous London theaters. Her best books were screened.

So, there is no doubt that Agatha Christie has made a truly invaluable contribution to English and, of course, world literature. Author: Irina Shumilova

Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976) is a famous English writer. From under her pen came the famous detective stories, she gave life to Poirot and Miss Marple.

Childhood

Agatha Mary Clarissa was born on September 15, 1890 in a wealthy Miller family. The girl became their youngest daughter. Like her older sister and brother, she received a decent home education until, in 1901, their father died of complications from pneumonia.

After this gloomy event, life in their Ashfield estate changed dramatically. Social entertainment has practically disappeared along with the numerous guests who used to curl around the father. The girl's mother, who suddenly found herself in a difficult financial situation, was forced to switch to the strictest economy. What she feared most was losing family nest. Now one governess was engaged in the education of children, so they received not particularly extensive knowledge. However, Agatha herself did not particularly strive to comprehend what did not fascinate her.

In 1906, Agatha went to study in Paris. There she became interested in music, mastered the piano and vocals. If not for her natural shyness, she might well have been on stage. But fate decreed otherwise.

Marriage

Soon the first romance happened in Agatha's life. With all the fervor of youth, she fell in love with the young Lieutenant Archibald Christie. His feelings were no less fervent. However, there were several obstacles in the way of young people at once. The first was the lack of money for both, because of which they could not afford to have a wedding. The second is the war, which forced them to part for a long time.

While her fiancé participated in the battles, Agatha worked in a military hospital. She combined the work of a nurse with the study of pharmacology. Then she first felt a craving for literary creativity.

1914 became a landmark for Agatha. She got married and took the name Christie. The young spouses did not manage to stay together for a long time, Archie had to return to the front. Agatha went to work in the pharmacy department, so she now had a lot of free time. And she did not waste it in vain, already in 1915 her first creation about Poirot, The Mysterious Affair at Stiles, was born.

Not a single publisher wanted to print a detective novel, so Agatha threw it away and turned her attention to more important activities.

First publication

After the end of the war, the life of the Christie family flowed peacefully and leisurely. In 1919, the couple had a daughter, Rosalind. Due to Archie's unreasonable spending, they were constantly short of money. Therefore, one day he suddenly remembered his wife's literary experiments.

The second attempt to publish the "Mysterious Incident" was successful. The novel was a huge success, and Agatha realized that writing was her calling and a way to ensure a comfortable existence.

Unfortunately, the idea that one can live comfortably on earnings from literary creativity came to mind not only to her, but also to her husband. He began to get involved in dubious financial transactions, which consistently brought huge losses.

Divorce

In 1926, Archie told his wife that he wanted to divorce her because he had met someone else. Everything would be fine, but for this he chose the most “suitable” time. Agatha's mother died, her brother became seriously addicted to drugs, and problems began in relations with publishers.

The writer did not suffer for a long time and publicly. She just took it and ... disappeared. And ten days later she showed up. Rested and ready for new challenges.

After filing for divorce, she boarded the Orient Express and headed for Baghdad.

new better life

Traveling on a train, which she immortalized in her novel of the same name, gave Agatha Christie a lot of ideas for her future works. And in 1930 she met her second husband, Max Mallowan. A talented archaeologist, he participated in the excavations of the city of Ur in Iraq, which the writer visited.

In the same year, the lovers went to London and got married. And Agatha published Murder at the Vicarage, the novel in which Miss Marple first appeared.

In 1939 the war broke out again. Agatha Christie's husband went to work as a translator in Cairo, and the writer herself again combined her work with work in the hospital.

After the final defeat of the Nazis, the Christie family began to live a calm and measured life.

Achievements and awards

In 1952, the audience first saw "The Mousetrap" - the famous play by Agatha Christie. From then until the eighties, the performance was played daily. This is a record that went down in history.

In 1955, several things happened at once. significant events. The Mallowan couple played a silver wedding. Agatha Christie received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for The Witness for the Prosecution. The Association of American Detective Writers introduced the title of "Grand Master of Detective Fiction" and awarded it to the famous writer.

A year later, Agatha Christie was awarded the Order of the British Empire. And in 1971, she received the title of Cavalierdam, which brought her a title of nobility.

Last years

Since 1971, the writer began to feel unwell. There were rumors that she had Alzheimer's disease. However, she did not stop creating for a single day.

In 1976, a cold finally crippled the strength of the resilient Englishwoman. On January 12, Agatha Christie died at her home. The legacy of the great writer will live forever.

She has as many names as options the outcome of detective novels written by her. In addition to the traditional name Agatha (which, by the way, is only the second, not the first), her parents gave her two more of them - Mary, and also Clarissa.

Moreover, Christie is not the maiden name of the writer who gave the world the greatest detective phrases in the form of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Peru Agatha Miller owns more than 60 detective novels, as well as two dozen plays and numerous collections of short stories. Needless to say, how often these literary works were honored with all kinds of productions and adaptations!

Childhood, girlhood and first marriage

The city of childhood in which the eminent writer was born is Torquay (Devon), and the exact date of birth is September 15, 1890. Thanks to wealthy parents (they were immigrants from the United States), Agatha received a thorough home education.

Biographers unanimously emphasize the undoubted musical talents of the future star of the English detective genre. However, shyness stood between her and the fate of the performer, influencing her further biography. And then, when she turned 24, marriage entered her life, finally burying the opportunity to shine on stage.

Colonel Archibald Christie for several years was a symbol of her love, for the first time she saw Lieutenant Archibald in front of her, but only when he rose to the rank of colonel, their joint happiness became a reality.

Agatha gave birth to her first husband Rosalind, but this did not save the first marriage, which was awarded to the future famous writer from fate. Her mother died in 1926, and two years later Archie insisted on a divorce. By that time, he was already in love with another woman. It was a banal affair between two golf partners.

Agatha Christie experienced insanity, which brought her to memory loss. However, treatment in a boarding house helped her to continue raising her beloved daughter. However, evil tongues claim that it was an attempt to take revenge on a dissolute ex-spouse: the police found an empty car with collected things, and the ex-wife herself disappeared without a trace, and the suspicion of a possible murder naturally fell on Archie. However, the matter never came to an arrest ...

Early career and second marriage

1920 was the year of her writing debut. Interestingly, before the publication, various British publishers rejected the opus of the future literary star of the national scale five times! As you can see, the beginning inspired, and the writer soon produced a whole series of novels with a Belgian detective as the main character.

No less famous Miss Marple Agatha came up with later. Subsequently, journalists repeatedly asked Christie the question of whether she herself was the prototype of her popular heroine? To which the writer invariably replied: they say, I don’t see any similarity between us!

According to her version, the attic of the house of one of her grandmothers turned out to be a storage place for an old reticule. All that Agatha Christie did was free him from bread crumbs, two pennies and silk lace, and this was the birth of the image of the famous detective.

In 1930, Agatha found a more serious candidate for husbands, archaeologist Max Mallowan became them. The young people met when Mrs. Christie was traveling in Iraq and came across the Ur dig. Since then, the writer has liked Asian voyages so much that the couple annually visited Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The First World War began, and Agatha devoted herself to working in a hospital, and later in a pharmacy. So it is not surprising her ability to understand poisons and professional knowledge for this part.

They say that when Agatha Christie met the future university professor in London, their love flared up like a dry camel's thorn on a red-hot dune. And this is despite the fact that Christie was then already 40, and her chosen one turned out to be a decade and a half younger.

They got married two months later and did not part for half a century! It was a deep love and mutual respect that began with a honeymoon, which took place, among other things, on the territory of the USSR. And this year was the year of birth of her deeply emancipated Miss Marple.

Subsequently, by the way, the writer said with a smile that she and her husband were both doing what they loved. And to be the wife of an archaeologist, according to her, is wonderful because over the years a woman is of increasing interest to her chosen one.

Honor and respect, Hercule, Hastings and Marple

The dizzying career that followed gave the world numerous detective stories that later became classics. In 1958, the writer was awarded the right to head the Detective Club of Britain.

And in 1971 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the literary field. At the same time, Christie added a piece of the noble title “dame” to her three names. Alas, five years later she was gone. A cold eventually led her to the graveyard in Cholsey. It happened in Wallingford (Oxfordshire), which became her native.

In fairness, it should be noted that Agatha Christie copied her first pair of heroes from an equally famous pair. But, nevertheless, the writer managed to make them so original that this borrowing was soon forgotten.

On the contrary, it later became a rule of good taste to say that the intellectual Poirot and the somewhat comical, diligent and not very smart Hastings were worthy successors of the work of the English authors of the detective genre.

But the image of the old maid Marple, which Agatha created later, became the arithmetic mean of the heroines of her colleagues Braddon and Green. Christie led her Hercule from the very beginning of her (and his!) career (starting with The Mysterious Incident at Styles) through 26 novels, until his "death." It happened in 1975, when Christie's career ended with "Curtain ..." or last thing Poirot.

The mouthpiece of emancipation

However, her grandson Matthew Pritchard claimed that the writer loved her detective more - a smart, old, traditional English lady. The secret is simple: Christy is an ardent champion of emancipation. First of all, this was reflected in her usual field of activity.

Agatha Christie put the postulates of emancipation into the mouths of her heroines more than once. Anyone who is familiar with Christie's great literary heritage in the smallest detail will confirm that sexual crimes never became the theme of her novels.

And scenes of violence, pools of blood and a sea of ​​rudeness are not inherent in her work. In this, her imperishable works are noticeably different from modern opuses of the detective genre. Agatha believed that all this unnecessary entourage does not allow the reader to fully sympathize and knocks her off the main topic.

It is interesting that, according to Christie himself, the undoubted peak of her work is the narrative of ten blacks. Moreover, the fictional island, where sinister and mysterious murders unfolded, has a very real “twin”. Agatha Christie copied the cliffs rising from the sea from Burgh, an island located in the south of England.

It was this novel that was destined to become the record holder for the number of copies sold. Political correctness, however, has made changes to Christie's creative process: at present, its name has been changed to "And there were none."

Throughout the reading world, she has the title of "Queen of Crimes", but Agatha herself has repeatedly said that she prefers the title of "Duchess of Death". Looking at a photo of a pretty elderly woman, it is hard to believe that hundreds of murders were born in her sophisticated brain. It is curious, but true: in her literary delights, she preferred poisons to firearms. In her opinion, they were excitingly attractive.

History has preserved the statement of her great admirer Winston Churchill, who once said that Christie had more money from the murders than any other woman, including the notorious Lucrezia Borgia.

Having a rich biography, Agatha left behind a legacy that has spread around the world in more than a hundred languages ​​in more than two billion copies. Christy is the author whose books are the most read in the world.

And your social status she always defined as a housewife: one of the writer's hobbies was real estate.

English Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, nee Miller(English) Miller), better known by the name of her first husband as Agatha Christie

English writer; is one of the world's most famous authors of detective fiction

Agatha Christie

short biography

The full name of the writer, who is called the queen of detective stories, is Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan, nee Miller, but she is known to the whole world as Agatha Christie, by the name of her first husband. One of the most popular detective writers. Her writings rank third in terms of number of publications after the Bible and William Shakespeare, translated into more than one hundred languages. During her lifetime alone, her books were published in more than 120 million copies.

Agatha Christie Born September 15, 1890 in Torquay (Devon) in a family of wealthy American immigrants. The Miller couple provided their children with a quality home education. If young Agatha was not afraid of the stage, she could become a musician.

To the first world war Agatha Miller worked as a nurse and did it with pleasure. She also had a job as a pharmacy pharmacist in her life, which subsequently helped her repeatedly “kill” her literary characters through poisoning.

In 1914, Agatha Miller became Agatha Christie by marrying officer Archibald Christie. In 1920, her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was published. There is a version according to which she was forced to enter the path of writing detective stories with her older sister: Agatha wanted to prove that she could write a book that the general public would see. The manuscript of an unknown writer was taken only in the seventh publishing house, having paid a very modest fee. Start creative way became very successful, the novel immediately made its author famous.

A bright and mysterious episode in the biography of A. Christie was her disappearance, which took place in December 1926. Her husband told her about love for another woman, asked for a divorce, and after a quarrel with him about the whereabouts of the writer, who allegedly went to Yorkshire, for 11 days nothing was known. The event caused a considerable resonance. Then Christie was found in a modest spa hotel registered under the name of her husband's mistress: she was diagnosed with amnesia, the cause of which was a head injury. The second version of the disappearance is connected with the desire to annoy her husband, to bring on him the inevitable suspicion of the murder of his wife.

In 1928, Agatha and Archibald divorced, but already in 1930, during a trip to Iraq, fate brought the famous writer to the man with whom she lived until the end of her days. The outstanding archaeologist Max Mallowan became her companion.

In 1956, A. Christie became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire II degree. In 1965, the writer finishes work on her autobiography, the last phrase of which was “Thank you, Lord, for my good life and for all the love that has been bestowed upon me." For merit in the field literary activity in 1971 Agatha Christie was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of the British Empire.

During 1971-1974. her state of health worsened more and more, but the writer did not stop working. There is an assumption (it was made by scientists from the University of Toronto based on a study of the manner of her writing) that Christie had Alzheimer's disease. On January 12, 1976, she died at her home in Wallingford. They buried her in the village of Cholsey.

In the popular and before her genre of literary detective, Agatha Christie acted as the creator of a new direction, emphasizing intelligence and brilliant intuition. These qualities are fully present in the characterization of her famous detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, to whom she devoted entire series. Christie's creative heritage includes more than seven dozen novels, 19 collections of short stories, more than thirty plays, the most famous of which were The Mousetrap (1954) and Witness for the Prosecution (1954). The first is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the work that has withstood the maximum number theatrical performances. Based on the works of the "queen of detectives" many films were shot.

Biography from Wikipedia

Childhood and first marriage

Her parents were wealthy immigrants from the United States. She was the youngest daughter in the Miller family. The Miller family had two more children: Margaret Frary (1879-1950) and son Louis Montan "Monty" (1880-1929). Agatha received a good home education, in particular, musical education, and only stage fright prevented her from becoming a musician.

During World War I, Agatha worked as a nurse in a hospital; she liked this profession and she spoke of her as " one of the most rewarding jobs a person can do". She also worked as a pharmacist in a pharmacy, which subsequently left an imprint on her work: 83 crimes in her works were committed through poisoning.

For the first time, Agatha married on Christmas Day in 1914 to Colonel Archibald Christie, with whom she had been in love for several years - even when he was a lieutenant. They had a daughter, Rosalind. This period was the beginning of the creative path of Agatha Christie. In 1920, Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was published. There is speculation that the reason for Christy's approach to the detective was a dispute with her older sister Madge (who had already proved herself as a writer) that she, too, could create something worthy of publication. Only in the seventh publishing house the manuscript was printed with a circulation of 2000 copies. The aspiring writer received a £25 fee. In 1922, together with her husband, Agatha Christie made a round-the-world voyage along the route Great Britain - Bay of Biscay - South Africa - Australia and New Zealand - Hawaiian Islands - Canada - USA - Great Britain ..

disappearance

In 1926, Agatha's mother died. At the end of that year, Agatha Christie's husband Archibald confessed to being unfaithful and asked for a divorce because he had fallen in love with fellow golfer Nancy Neal. After an argument in early December 1926, Agatha disappeared from her home, leaving a letter to her secretary claiming to have gone to Yorkshire. Her disappearance caused a loud public outcry, since the writer already had fans of her work. For 11 days, nothing was known about Christie's whereabouts.

Agatha's car was found, in the cabin of which her fur coat was found. A few days later, the writer herself was discovered. As it turned out, Agatha Christie registered under the name Teresa Neal in the small spa hotel Swan Hydropathic Hotel (now the Old Swan Hotel). Christie gave no explanation for her disappearance, and two doctors diagnosed her with amnesia caused by a head injury. The reasons for the disappearance of Agatha Christie are analyzed by the British psychologist Andrew Norman in his book The Finished Portrait, where he, in particular, argues that the traumatic amnesia hypothesis does not stand up to criticism, since Agatha Christie's behavior indicated the opposite: she registered in a hotel under the name of her husband's beloved, she spent time playing the piano, spa treatments, visiting the library. However, after reviewing all the evidence, Norman came to the conclusion that there was a dissociative fugue caused by a severe mental disorder.

Despite mutual affection at the beginning, the marriage of Archibald and Agatha Christie ended in divorce in 1928.
In her novel An Unfinished Portrait, published in 1934 under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, Agatha Christie describes events similar to her own disappearance.

Second marriage and later years

In 1930, while traveling in Iraq, she met her future husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, during the excavations in Ur. He was 15 years younger than her. Agatha Christie said about her marriage that for an archaeologist a woman should be as old as possible, because then her value increases significantly. Since then, she periodically spent several months of the year in Syria and Iraq on expeditions with her husband, this period of her life was reflected in the autobiographical novel Tell How You Live. In this marriage, Agatha Christie lived the rest of her life, until her death in 1976.

Thanks to Christie's trips to the Middle East with her husband, the events of several of her works took place there. Other novels (such as "Ten Little Indians") were set in or around the city of Torquay, the place where Christie was born. The 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express was written at the Hotel Pera Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. Room 411 of the hotel where Agatha Christie lived is now her memorial museum. Estate The Greenway Estate in Devon, which the couple bought in 1938, is protected by the National Trust.

Christy often stayed at the Abney Hall mansion in Cheshire, which belonged to James Watts, her sister's husband. The action of at least two of Christie's works took place on this estate: "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding", a story also included in the collection of the same name, and the novel "After the Burial". “Abney became an inspiration for Agatha; from which were taken descriptions of such places as Stiles, Chimneys, Stonegates and other houses that in one way or another represent Abney.

In 1956, Agatha Christie was awarded the Order of the British Empire, and in 1971, for achievements in the field of literature, Agatha Christie was awarded the title Lady Commander(Eng. Dame Commander) of the Order of the British Empire, the owners of which also acquire the noble title "lady", used before the name. Three years earlier, in 1968, Agatha Christie's husband, Max Mallowan, was also awarded the title of Knight of the Order of the British Empire for achievements in the field of archeology.

In 1958, the writer headed the English Detective Club.

Between 1971 and 1974, Christie's health began to deteriorate, but despite this, she continued to write. Specialists at the University of Toronto examined Christie's style of writing during these years and suggested that Agatha Christie suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

In 1975, when she was completely weakened, Christie transferred all the rights to her most successful play, The Mousetrap, to her grandson.

The writer died on January 12, 1976 at her home in Wallingford, Oxfordshire after a short cold and was buried in the village of Cholsey.

The autobiography of Agatha Christie, which the writer graduated in 1965, ends with the words: “ Thank you, Lord, for my good life and for all the love that was bestowed on me.».

Christie's only daughter, Rosalind Margaret Hicks, also lived to 85 and died on October 28, 2004 in Devon. Agatha Christie's grandson, Mathew Prichard, inherited the rights to some of Agatha Christie's literary works, and his name is still associated with the foundation " Agatha Christie Limited».

Creation

One Indian correspondent who interviewed me (and, admittedly, asked a lot of stupid questions) asked: "Have you ever published a book that you think is frankly bad?" I replied indignantly: “No!” No book came out exactly as intended, was my answer, and I was never satisfied, but if my book had turned out really bad, I would never have published it.

Agatha Christie "Autobiography"

In an interview with the British broadcaster BBC in 1955, Agatha Christie said that she spent her evenings knitting in the company of friends or family, while in her head she was working on thinking about a new storyline, by the time she sat down to write the novel, the plot was ready from beginning to end. By her own admission, the idea for a new novel could have come from anywhere. Ideas were submitted to a special notebook, full of various notes about poisons, newspaper notes about crimes. The same thing happened with the characters. One of the characters created by Agatha had a real-life prototype - Major Ernst Belcher, who at one time was the boss of Agatha Christie's first husband, Archibald Christie. It was he who became the prototype of Pedler in the 1924 novel The Man in the Brown Suit about Colonel Reis.

Agatha Christie was not afraid to touch on social issues in her works. For example, at least two of Christie's novels (The Five Little Pigs and The Trial of Innocence) dealt with miscarriages of justice involving the death penalty. In general, many of Christie's books describe various negative sides English justice of the time.

The writer has never made sexual crimes the theme of her novels. Unlike today's detective stories, there are practically no scenes of violence, pools of blood and rudeness in her works. “The detective was a story with a moral. Like everyone who wrote and read these books, I was against the criminal and for the innocent victim. No one could have imagined that the time would come when detective stories would be read because of the scenes of violence described in them, for the sadistic pleasure of cruelty for the sake of cruelty ... "- so she wrote in her autobiography. In her opinion, such scenes dull the feeling of compassion and do not allow the reader to focus on main topic novel.

Agatha Christie considered her best work to be the novel Ten Little Indians. The rocky island on which the action of the novel takes place is written off from nature - this is the island of Burgh in South Britain. Readers also appreciated the book - it has the largest sales in stores, however, to maintain political correctness, it is now sold under the name And Then There Were None- "And there was no one."

In her work, Agatha Christie demonstrates the conservatism of political views, quite typical of the English mentality. A vivid example is the story "The Clerk's Story" from the Parker Pyne cycle, about one of whose heroes it is said: "He had some kind of Bolshevik complex." In a number of works - "Big Four", "Orient Express", "Capture of Cerberus" there are immigrants from the Russian aristocracy, who enjoy the author's invariable sympathy. In the aforementioned story "The Clerk's Story", Mr. Pine's client becomes involved in a group of agents passing on secret blueprints of Britain's enemies to the League of Nations. But by decision of Pine, a legend is invented for the hero that he is carrying jewelry belonging to a beautiful Russian aristocrat and saving them, along with the mistress, from agents of Soviet Russia.

Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple

In 1920, Christie published her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which had previously been rejected five times by British publishers. Soon she has a whole series of works in which the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot acts: 33 novels, 1 play and 54 stories.

Continuing the tradition of the English masters of the detective genre, Agatha Christie created a couple of heroes: the intellectual Hercule Poirot and the comical, diligent, but not very smart Captain Hastings. If Poirot and Hastings were largely copied from Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, then spinster Miss Marple is collectively, reminiscent of the main characters of the writers M. Z. Braddon and Anna Catherine Green.

Miss Marple appeared in the 1927 story " Evening Club "Tuesday"“” (Eng. The Tuesday Night Club). The prototype of Miss Marple was the grandmother of Agatha Christie, who, according to the writer, "was a good-natured person, but always expected the worst from everyone and everything, and with frightening regularity her expectations were justified."

Like Arthur Conan Doyle from Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie got tired of her hero Hercule Poirot by the end of the 1930s, but unlike Conan Doyle, she did not dare to “kill” the detective while he was at the peak of popularity. According to the writer's grandson, Matthew Pritchard, of the characters she invented, Christie liked Miss Marple more - "an old, smart, traditional English lady."

During World War II, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain (1940) and Sleeping Murder, which she intended to end the Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple series of novels, respectively. However, the books were only published in the 1970s.

Other detectives of Agatha Christie

Colonel Flight(Eng. Colonel Race) appears in four novels by Agatha Christie. The colonel is an agent of British intelligence, he travels the world in search of international criminals. Reis is an employee of the MI5 espionage department. He is a tall, well-built, tanned man.

He first appears in the novel man in brown suit”, a spy detective set in South Africa. He also appears in the two Hercule Poirot novels Cards on the Table and Death on the Nile, where he assists Poirot in his investigation. He makes his last appearance in the 1944 novel Blazing Cyanide, investigating the murder of an old friend. In this novel, Reis has already reached an advanced age.

Parker Pine(Eng. Parker Pyne) - the hero of 12 stories included in the collection " Investigates Parker Pine", and also partially in the collections" The Secret of the Regatta and Other Stories" and " Trouble in Pollença and other stories". The Parker Pine series is not detective fiction in the conventional sense. The plot is usually based not on a crime, but on the story of Pine's clients, who, for various reasons, are dissatisfied with their lives. It is these grievances that bring clients to Pine's agency. In this series of works, Miss Lemon appears for the first time, leaving her job with Pine to get a job as a secretary to Hercule Poirot.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford(English Tommy and Tuppence Beresford), full names Thomas Beresford and Prudence Cowley - a young couple of amateur detectives, first appearing in the novel "The Mysterious Adversary" in 1922, not yet married. They begin their lives blackmailing (for money and out of interest), but soon discover that private investigation brings more money and pleasure. In 1929, Tuppence and Tomy appear in the collection of stories "Partners in Crime", in 1941 in " N or M?", in 1968 in " Click your finger just once", and for the last time in the novel" gate of fate» 1973, which was the last written novel by Agatha Christie, although not the last published. Unlike the rest of Agatha Christie's detectives, Tommy and Tuppence age with the real world and with each successive novel. So, by the last novel where they appear, they are in their seventies.

Superintendent Battle(Eng. Superintendent Battle) - a detective, the hero of five novels. Battle is entrusted with sensitive cases related to secret societies and organizations, as well as cases affecting the interests of the state and state secrets. The superintendent is a highly successful employee of Scotland Yard, he is a cultured and intelligent policeman who rarely shows his emotions. Christy tells little about him: for example, Battle's name remains unknown. It is known about Battle's family that his wife's name is Mary and that they have five children.

Inspector Narracot - detective, the hero of the novel "The Riddle of Sittaford".

Main literary heroes

• Miss Marple
• Hercule Poirot
• Captain Hastings
• Miss Lemon (Poirot's secretary)
• Chief Inspector Japp
• Ariadne Oliver
• Superintendent Battle
• Colonel Flight
• Tommy and Tuppence Beresford

Also other detectives who appeared in just one collection of detective stories:

• Parker Pine
• harley kin
• Mr Satterthwaite

About Agatha Christie

• Hack R. The Duchess of Death. Biography of Agatha Christie / Per. from English. M. Makarova. - M.: Hummingbird, Azbuka-Atticus, 2011. - 480 p., 5000 copies.
• Tsimbaeva E. N. Agatha Christie. - M. : Young Guard, 2013. - 346, p., l. ill. - (Life of remarkable people. Small series; Issue 44). - 5000 copies.

Memory

• In 1985, the crater Christie on Venus was named in her honor.
• On November 25, 2012, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the play "The Mousetrap", a monument to Agatha Christie is planned to be unveiled in the theater district of London, in the very center of Covent Garden (sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies)
• In 1985, the Russian rock band "Agatha Christie" was named after her.

Computer games

A trilogy based on the books by Agatha Christie computer games in the quest genre, as well as casual games.