Customer Reviews

Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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in spite of the cover of the book proclaiming that this is an "unauthorized biography" that was drawn "from over 5,000 unpublished letters, notes, and documents."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.

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.

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.

Well researched book about a much loved author. The author, of this book, tied up all the loose ends by telling the reader what happened to Nancy and to Archie and how Max lived out his last years! It was interesting to learn that Matthew finally sold the rights of "The Mousetrap".... rather an odd thing to do?

I found Ros a nasty piece of work. Work ,did I say? I dont believe she or her husband worked a day in their lives just lived off the work of Agatha! There is not one reference to Ros ever being nice to her mother or to anyone else connected with Agatha Ltd!

I enjoyed this book very much...if you want a good read do buy a copy!

This is my first biography of Agatha Christie, so the story of her life is new to me. The story is so fascinating, I'm enjoying it. But honestly, I want to read one by someone else after I'm done with this one! It's a bit on the cheesy side. For example, "Divorce. Upon hearing the word, red and white blotches like oilcloth gingham spread across Agatha's face, as anger replaced disbelief." I mean, what in heck kind of writing is that???? Oilcloth gingham? Huh? And this is just one (hilarious) example. If you can get through passages like that, you'll be fine.

I picked up this book knowing nothing about Agatha Christie personally but having read a good many of her mysteries and enjoying them. I found the woman to be a fascinating figure and her life and times extraordinary. Her mysterious disappearance in 1926 which has never really been explained, the breakup of her first marriage, the enormous amount of time she spent in Iraq, Iran, and Syria writing her books while her second husband completed his archaeological digs is all fascinating.

The human interest side of the story is how she handled her ever increasing fame and wealth to remain a shy and humble person. Agathe Christie seemed to have led a charmed life as well as a fascinating one.

"Duchess of Death" is pretty much impossible to put down, imo, especially if you're a fan and admirer of Agatha Christie. Though most fans will be familiar with many of the facts presented, Hack makes it all new and fascinating by adding many telling details that enrich your understanding of events, and by always keeping the reader involved in the twists and turns of the rich emotional life of his talented subject. Plus, very tactfully, as befits his proper Victorian lady author, Hack includes some frank sexual background and insights that I had not been aware of. And he does this without violating the dignity or truth of the Agatha we all know and love. I found his explanation of Christie's disappearance very interesting and plausible. Overall, reading this book made me feel that I knew one of my favorite authors quite a bit better. Agatha Christie seemed more understandably human and real in Hack's telling of her life. If you love Agatha Christie, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

I began reading and couldn't stop until I had finished the book - it was such a good read. What a pleasure it was, following so soon after my attempt at reading the "authorized" biography by Janet Morgan. Morgan's book is primarily a book of data and facts about Mrs. Christie's life and requires one to skip over all the data to find bits and pieces of words about Mrs. Christie's life. It was difficult to read and after the 2nd chapter, I quite trying to get through the book. With Mr. Hack's book, however, there were no difficulties and no skipping over anything..it was a pleasure to read. It read like a novel and I couldn't wait for more. In the last half of the book there were admittedly more of the data/facts listed but the author didn't let the data take priority over telling the story of her life. By data, I mean the following; listing of each book with dates published and publisher, the number of books written at that point, number of plays written and when, etc. etc. in great detail. I felt that should anyone want to know the details of each book, play, or short story, these should be in a separate chart or list. Fortunately in this book, Mr. Hack kept my interest by providing the story of Mrs. Christie's life and kept the "data" to a minimum. I enjoyed reading about Mrs. Christie's life and found this book very well done. For those who prefer facts and data over a good read, choose Janet Morgan's book.

Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie by Richard Hack.

This is a very insightful account of Dame Agatha's life as told through over 5000 letters and notes, interviews with people who knew her, and her autobiography, to name a few sources. Mr. Hack has done very extensive research. I've read all of her mysteries, and most of her other works, including her autobiography and Janet Morgan's biography, and, while I did know a lot of her personal life's events and feelings, I did not know about her eleven day disappearance. I felt that unless it came from her, nothing written would be true.

I was very happy to find that Mr. Hack did indeed find letters written by her about the escapade. He also found some people that were willing to speak about it. At times, it almost seems as if Mr. Hack was able to speak to Agatha directly in his recounting of her emotional state at the time, as well as all through her life.

Agatha, Hack says, "doubted she could write, yet managed to sell well over two billion books, translated into one hundred five languages, making Agatha Christie the most popular modern author in the world. Thirty-three years after her death, all of her books remain in print -- eighty-four novels and compilations of short stories, six additional novels written as Mary Westmacott, her two autobiographies, and three books of poetry." He even writes about her books without giving away "who-dun-it". I appreciate that, if only for those who haven't read a particular mystery yet.

An excellent read for any Agatha Christie fan, I highly recommend it.

Not only was Agatha Christie a prolific mystery writer, but she also created mystery as she lived her own life. Mystery seemed to follow her. In any case, her name is synonymous with suspense.

Richard Hack has created in Duchess Of Death, a work that will delight Agatha Christie fans. He gives the reader an extraordinary glimpse into the mysterious life of an extraordinarily gifted legend.