Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days

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Fame and wide acclaim came to Agatha Christie in 1926 when "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" was published. In the same year, however, her disappearance and the eleven-day search for her attracted even more attention. Subsequently in interviews and in her own autobiography, Agatha Christie refused to explain or refer to the incident. It was inferred that the breakdown of her first marriage had been one aspect of the mystery, and her reluctance to refer to anything so painful was respected.

Since her death, she has been the subject of several biographies. None that I have read, even that of her second husband, Sir Max Mellowan, provides a satisfactory motivation or time table for the eleven missing days in 1926.

It seems remarkable that a young writer from the smallest state in Australia should be the one to adequately research the subject and to have access to the best informants. Jared Cade knows Agatha Christie's novels, plays, poetry and short sories well, and demonstrates how insights into this major crisis in Agatha Christie's life reside in them. His theories are sound, his rebuttal of false and misleading explanations is strong, and his judgments - even of Dame Agatha herself - are balanced.

Interest in what happened to the world' best-selling author back in 1926 may no longer be strong, but it is good to read something that at last sets the record straight. It is, moreover, a fascinating and focussed biography of someone who tried to keep herself away from public scrutiny. I like the compliment paid to the author by his principal informants, descendants of Agatha Christie's best friend: "This is the only biography that tells Agatha's life as it really was. Your insight into her life and personality is unsurpassed."

This is a good and interesting read. Its basic thesis is that Agatha Christie plotted her mysterious disappearance in December 1926 to spite her then husband for his adultery. What she was unable to predict and to control, as she could with characters she created, was how others would respond, particularly her husband and the ravenous English press--and, Cade suggests, that explosion scarred a very private person to the end of her days. The book is very well researched, drawing on the knowledge and inferences of Christie's relatives, Judith and Graham Gardner. The latter point is important, because in the aftermath of her reemergence her family circled the wagons and kept her secrets alongside her. (As Christiephiles know, this most famous event in her life is not discussed in her memoirs.) Cade writes well and clearly and, to my mind, does an excellent job of tracing his subject's oblique references to the event in her novels, particularly those published under the name of Mary Westmacott. It is a sympathetic and persuasive reconstruction.

My quibble with the book, which often shades into quarrel, is that the author tends to write as though he has entered Miss Christie's mind, even as a child, and can articulate for her what she herself refused to confirm, or even to address. No matter how sympathetic an author tries to be, such an endeavor is simply impossible. Even if Agatha Christie herself had done so, human beings reflect on significant events of their lives in different ways at different ages. Cade reconstructs and recounts his subject's life the way that a mystery novelist does, such that Cade casts himself as Poirot or the "omniscient narrator," in effect if not exactly by intent.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting and informative biography, because Cade uses "the eleven missing days" as a window onto the whole of his subject's life and the peculiarities of Edwardian England. I left it appreciative of the imperfections, fragility, and toughness, not only of Agatha Christie, but of the people around her. Human beings are complicated creatures; few are outright heroes or villains. Miss Christie's finest mystery turns out to have been not one she wrote but one she lived. Such is true of us all, whatever our professions.

I loved this book and have given several copies to people with great results.

It's not only an investigation into the "eleven missing days," it takes great pains to tell the entire story of Agatha Christie's whole life. The way Cade was able to match Christie's work with her various traumas is wonderful, and it's hard to believe that seventy years later anyone can come up with something new about such a famous unsolved mystery, and yet Cade has done exactly that, with the help of Nan Watts' daughter. I wonder what Rosalind Hicks, Agatha Christie's daughter, thinks of this book? It's marvelous. We'll never be able to read, for example, "Verdict" in the same way, knowing it reflects on Max Mallowan, Christie's second husband, and his liaison with his executive assistant Barbara Parker, who became the second Lady Mallowan after Christie's death. How she was able to keep a sense of humor I'll never know.

Surprisingly the book makes one feel more, not less, admiration for Christie. Good on you, Jared Cade! Can't wait to see where you turn your hand to next.

The book really helps to reveal a closer and deeper examination of Agatha's life, books, as well as her deepiest feelings in her heart... Cade has tried very hard to up root the feelings of Agatha I think... The introduction of Agatha's books especially the ones written under Mary Westmacott is helpful and in great details... Moreover, there are also integrations betwwen the content and Agatha's corresponding feelings and experiences... I do think that the book deserve a look!

On December 3, 1926 Archie Christie told his wife, Agattha, that he was in love with someone else and wanted a divorce. He then left for a weekend party.

Later that evening, Agatha got in her car for a drive. Her car was found off the road with her coat inside but she was no where to be found.

It was 11 days before she was found. The official story was that she was suffering from amnesia.

But now, family members from someone who knows what really happened have cooperated with telling the true story.

It's fascinating, believable and a thoroughly absorbing look into the life of one of our most famous authors.

There have been many books written about Agatha Christie since she died 32 years ago and I place this brilliantly researched biography second only to her own autobiography. A number of events, not least the famous disappearance, were completely ignored and left out of her autobiography - either at her own discretion or that of her immediate family's since it was published after her death. Jared Cade's objective and affectionate accounts fills in the missing blanks and unravels what happened when she disappeared. His biography is particularly merit-worthy because it is the only biography to be officially endorsed by Agatha Christie's sister-in-law's side of the family. The same relatives also featured with him in a television documentary based on this book. If you missed it, don't despair. Buy this book instead. A great book that deserves a place on any self-respecting Christie addicts bookshelves.

I bought this book for my fifteen year old son. He enjoyed it so much that I read it too. I've read many books about the life of Agatha Christie but I've never read one more honest and well researched. Although the book does concentrate on the Agatha Christie disappearance in the 1920's it also covers all of her life. You'll learn about her upbringing, her daughter, her friends and her two frustrating and disappointing marriages. This is a not to be missed book!

Interesting analysis of Agatha Christie's 1926 disappearance. Some conjecture is taken as fact, but a solid read. I recommend it.

This well-researched, accessible analysis of the legendary "disappearance" of the notoriously shy author is a must-read for every Christie fan, as well as a treasure-trove of informed speculation and fact for students of the pathology of unhappy marriages.

An excellent 'insider's view' of the reclusive writers life. I feel like I have been able to get to know Agatha as a person rather than simply a name on a book. Cade seems to have excellent insight into Agatha, showing empathy, for Agatha and her family, and real intelligence. I have always been interested in agatha since we share the same birthday however Cade seems to have brought her to life where others have failed miserably.
I was constantly fascinated by the realm of people Cade interviewed apart from family, even those people involved in the search!
The proof was in the pudding when it was made into a television documentary.
I can't wait to read more works written by this Cade fellow - what a talent!