35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed marks...and an odd cover, August 24, 2009
This review is from: Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie (Hardcover)
This book is a retelling of the life of Agatha Christie drawn from her writings, from previously published sources, and, perhaps, from letters and papers at the University of Exeter, or perhaps not. This is not clear in spite of the cover of the book proclaiming that this is an "unauthorized biography" that was drawn "from over 5,000 unpublished letters, notes, and documents." Inside the book, however, there is no mention of these letters etc. except by implication in the thanks to the research staff at the University of Exeter. They are not mentioned in the extensive bibliography. "Letters" are cited in the endnotes without further explanation. Some letters are cited to Laura Thompson's "Agatha Christie: An English Mystery" which, interestingly, is not mentioned in the Bibliography. There are other interesting gaps in Bibliography: Christie's own "Come Tell Me How You Live" is not cited, yet is obviously the source of much of the Middle East information. Only one of the Westmacott novels is listed although these must be the major source of insight into Christie's perception of her own emotional life. I do not have the sense that the author is being deceitful, but rather than he is being sloppy. The deceit, I think, is from the publisher whose hype on the cover implies that there is something new between these covers. There is not.
There is also sloppiness in useage. These are not big flaws, just little annoyances. Examples: In the UK they do not have "twin beds"; they have single beds. They do not have "backyards"; they have gardens. They do not "graduate from high school"; they leave school. Agatha Christie was never Lady Agatha Christie. That would communicate that she was the daughter of a duke, marquis, or earl. She was Lady Mallowan (not Lady Agatha Mallowan, just Lady Mallowan) as the wife of Sir Max Mallowan. She was also Dame Agatha Christie in her own right.
What is most puzzling about this book is that the first part of it is quite well done and evokes Christie's life in an engaging way. It is a good read. It is interesting. He tells the Harrogate incident quite well and with a convincing understanding of what might have happened. Then, about the middle of the book when Christie is remarried and off to the Middle East, the story becomes dull and uninteresting. There are lists of books published and movies made. There is a mention of the unrelenting tax problems. There is illness and there is death. Obviously, the material is what the material is, but good grief, what a bore he makes it. It's as if the book was written by two different people: one a novelist and biographer and the other the writer of corporate brochures.
Generally, I must say that Laura Thompson's book is a much better read and she had the real advantage of the cooperation of Christie's family. The "unauthorized" and "unpublished" sources mentioned on the cover implies falsely that something new will be offered. It is not. This is simply an uneven library job.
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FASCINATING BOOK!!, July 11, 2009
This review is from: Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie (Hardcover)
I have read several biographies by Richard Hack and enjoy his writing style, so when I discovered his latest book on mystery writer Agatha Christie I added it to my collection. I picked it up the other evening, intending to read a few pages before going to bed, and four hours later found myself still reading!! Christie, as seen through the eyes of this author, is turned into a fascinating (and thoroughly surprising) woman. A romantic, a celebrity despite her need for total privacy, and a charismatic explorer of artifacts in what is now Iraq. This book will certainly appeal to the millions of Christie fans, who will find the author's research impeccable and his writing brilliantly crafted. Compared to the other Christie biographies, this one adds warmth and a wonderfully detailed depiction of a time period when one would rather go without food than servants. I finished the book in two days, and have already purchased a second copy as a gift. Bravo for a job well done on a difficult subject.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Frustrating, October 10, 2009
This review is from: Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie (Hardcover)
Like other reviewers, I was taken in by the claim on the front of the book that it draws on 5,000 letters, and then disappointed to see that, if this is the case, so few of these letters could have been of any substance. Hack excels at explaining the business side of Agatha Christie and the industry that accreted around her. I did not know for example, that Rosalind Hicks left behind a fortune of six hundred million dollars--how is that even possible? I expect that many of the bruited 5,000 letters might have come from the papers of her agent or publishers? Otherwise the lack of footnotes is frustrating indeed.
For example, on page 212 there is a brief discussion of Christie's one venture into screenwriting, a treatment for MGM of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House. Hack tells us that Bleak House, completed in April 1962, came in at 270 pages long, absurdly overlong for a feature film. But we never find out how he knows this. Did he read the screenplay? How does he know it was 270 pages? How does he know the month of completion? No references are given. It is one of my dreams someday to read Christie's "Bleak House" screenplay, and I would have appreciated more information here.
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