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    An Autobiography
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    An Autobiography
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    An Autobiography
    Audiobook28 hours

    An Autobiography

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Judith Boyd

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Agatha Christie’s ‘most absorbing mystery’ – her own autobiography.

    Over the three decades since her death on 12 January 1976, many of Agatha Christie’s readers and reviewers have maintained that her most compelling book is probably still her least well-known. Her candid Autobiography, written mainly in the 1960s, modestly ignores the fact that Agatha had become the best-selling novelist in history and concentrates on her fascinating private life. From early childhood at the end of the 19th century, through two marriages and two World Wars, and her experiences both as a writer and on archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan, Agatha shares the details of her varied and sometimes complex life with real passion and openness.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 12, 2013
    ISBN9780007515172
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

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    Reviews for An Autobiography

    4.5/5

    28 ratings17 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The descriptions of a bygone era was delightful although at times, it felt a tad long-winded. The reader did a great job of contributing to the atmosphere!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I am finally finished! This is a long read, a rambling look back over Agatha Christie's life. It was less about her writing career and more about all the other interesting things she has done: served as a dispensing chemist during the first world war; travelled extensively in the Middle East.

      Agatha writes it in 1st person, and very much her own style. It was like I could hear her speaking. I had to keep reminding myself that she finished it in 1965, as there were many references to things that made me think: 'if only she knew how things were now'. Her writing career is very much in the background of this autobiography, as she treated it so in her life. She didn't consider herself an author, she considered it just a sort of past-time which happened to make her money. She considered herself a 'married woman' first and foremost, which was very much a product of her era - being born in 1890. In fact her writing doesn't really get a mention until after the first 200 pages, after a rambling account of her childhood and the different places she stayed and things she did.

      There are references to conversations and events written in French (as that was what they were spoken), which are not translated, as Agatha Christie lived in France for a time in her childhood so she could learn it fluently, and had a French companion/nanny as well. She also did this later in the book as she also used French when in the Middle East and I found it disappointing that the publisher didn't endeavour to provide a translation of them as you miss some bits of pieces - or that it didn't occur to her that a reader would not know French. (very much a product of her class and era).

      Towards the end she discusses her novels and the writing in more detail, especially when she started to write plays, and it was interesting to think that she didn't consider herself as talented as such or that she had a gift. Her humble modesty is quite disarming.

      Agatha Christie had an interesting and intriguing life, which is what keep me reading this rambling account. She would have been quite a person to have known.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      As interesting to read as any of her Marple or Poirot novels.
    • 4/5
      I read most of this book but didn't finish. I just wasn't in the mood for all it.Having said that, I found what I did read to be interesting - kind of like sitting down and having a conversation with Ms Christie. It was rather rambly and out of order, especially at the beginning. But it was also an interesting glimpse at what she remembered and considered to be important in her life.
    • 5/5
      I had read Christie's Come Tell Me How You LIve, a brief account of her archaeological experience, but I was somehow unaware of her posthumously published autobiography, which is a delightful picture of growing up in late Victorian England and her later life with her 2 husbands, particularly the archaeologist Max Mallowan.
    • 5/5
      The Good StuffDelightful charming read Fascinating stories of Agatha's life Learned so much about life during the war in England Interesting historical information Enjoyed the chapter where Agatha talks about the production of going swimming as a girl and a women in Victorian England Very wise and accurate observations of life Was actually quite surprised how intriguing of a read it was, had a hard time putting it down on a couple of occasions Absolutley flabergasted that she really never had an inkling that she wanted to be an author until quite far along in her life Extremely funny at times Very respectful of her ex husband which is extremely classy Will be buying a finished copy with the bonus CD (hoping there are pictures in the finished copy as well) Honestly this was just like sitting down and having her tell you the story of her life - just felt very personal and honest. I have never read an Agatha Christie book before, and now think I will be picking up a couple of them as I was so impressed by her autobiography Was intrigued by all the travelling she did and especially of the times she spent with her husband on Archeaology digs -- truly fascinating She just has such a postive hopeful attitude towards life in all its ups and downs, it was just so inspiring to read The Not So Good StuffAlmost too squeaky clean at times and obviously leaves out some interesting passages of her life. That being said I wouldn't want to air my dirty laundry either, but for the reader they might be disappointed by this Drags a wee bit Favorite Quotes/Passages"I loved 'Problems'. Thought merely sums in diguise, they had an intriguing flavour. 'John has five apples, George has six; if John gave away two of George's apples, how many will George have at the end of the day?' and so on. Nowadays, thinking of that problem, I feel an urge to reply; "Depends on how fond of apples George is.""One cannot, ever, go back to the place which exists in momory. You would not see it with the same eyes-even supposing that it should improbably have remained much the same. What you have had you have had. 'The happy highways where I went, And shall not come again...' Never go back to a place where you have been happy. Until you do it remains alive for you. If you go back it will be destroyed.""Lake Louise was for a long time my answer when I was asked which was the most beautiful place I had ever seen: - a great, long blue lake, low mountains on either side, all of a most glorious shape, closing in with snow mountains at the end of it."" We are all the same people as we were at three, six, ten or twenty years old. More noticebly so, perhaps, at six or seven, because we were not pretending so much then, whereas at twenty we put on a show of being someone else, of being in the mode of the moment. If there is an intellectual fashion, you become an intellectual; if girls are fluffy and frivolous, you are fluffy and frivolous. As life goes on, however, it becomes tiring to keep up the character you invented for yourself, and so you relapse into individuality and become more like yourself everyday."Who Should/Shouldn't ReadObviously fans of Agatha Christie will enjoy Perfect for those who know nothing about her and want to learn something Quite frankly most readers will get something from this Those with an interest in Victorian England will find tons of interesting tidbits 4.25 Dewey'sI received this from HarperCollins in exchange for an Honest
    • 4/5
      One of the best and most enjoyable auto-biographies I've read in a long time. Most interesting to me to read a first hand account of live in late Victorian times by one who lived it, and, of course, Christie is one of my most beloved mystery writers which made it all the more enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. It was like visiting with my grandma in a way. Warm, humorous and interesting. A delightful look at the turn of the century in England, up through the second World War. Then she gets less chatty about her later life, yet it is fun to read about her different inspirations for her books. A definite keeper and one I want to share with my friends.
    • 4/5
      Reading this autobiography brought home to me that, while I am indeed a mystery fan, my love of Christie's books also stems from a liking of both her writing style and her personal viewpoints. I don't read much nonfiction and when I do, I tend toward travel type books. So it may be my inexperience with autobiographies but this one struck me as unusual. Christie jumps around in time and interposes bits of personal philosophy or belief with anecdotes. She says quite openly towards the beginning that one of the things that elderly people like to do is remember and talk about their lives and that she was going to do this in book form rather than subjecting her family and friends to listening to a subject that would be boring to them. As such, it really is more of a memoir than an autobiography.
    • 5/5
      Superb, really enjoyably charming with delightful historical insights into life in the early 1900s, and of course some of the details of Mrs Chrisitie's life.The first third is perhaps the best part of the whole book. She describes growing up in 1890s through to her "coming out" in the 1910s as a young girl in a relatively lower income, but upper class family. They only had three servants for example. I really enjoyed the odd snippets of the families daily life. Mrs Chrisite hasn't tried to be structured in any way with this memoir - it is just that a connected series of memories, the things that stood out when she was thinking back on her childhood. The hours of fun one can have with a simple hoop, or the imaginary train lines she ran round the flower beds. The food she used to eat (prepared by the cook) seven course meals every day, a Christmas dinner with two different types of Turkey plus beef (and of course starters, the fish course, pudding, dessert AND cake). This is an example of one of the few problems with this book, because I really had to think a bit before the distinction between pudding and desserts. There are others - a "semi evening dress" for example. Customs and cultures that were the norm at the time, and still understood in the 60s when this was written, are now passing out of memory and explanation. The only other complaint I have is the middle section slows down just a little. Somehow the period after the Great War, didn't have quite the gaiety in the writing that the earlier memories did, or the sense of discovery in the later ones. Maybe it was just that this part of Mrs Chrisities life wasn't as exciting, but I think it was also partly the writing here too. Most of the anecdotes concern places, either houses she was living in or the trips she took. They are of course populated by lots of characters, but somehow these serve to highlight the experiences rather than being key people in her life. It was interesting to note how little the two world wars featured. A few years of disturbance certainly, but life went on. She only talks a little bit about her writing, some of the early attempts and getting her first book published, a few mentions of stories she felt particularly worked well, and just one or two instances of the influences that helped her develop a plot. A little time was spent in her switch to play writing, but given her vast output of books she explains quite well why it was only until late in life that se really thought of herself as an author. What I didn't realise is just how many different books she wrote, not all Hercule and Miss Marple, but on many other themes as well, including summaries of her 2nd husband's archaeological digs.The writing style is light, gently humorous and very readable. Topics naturally flow into one another, which means that the chronology isn't always linear, but it is obvious. Mrs Christie has mostly only written about the positives which makes it a happy book to read. She does describe herself as mostly being a positive person though, and I think it's fair to say she's generally enjoyed life - even when it wasn't all fair sailing. It's a fascinating read and something I'd thoroughly recommend to anyone who's enjoyed her books, or has any interest in 1900s English life
    • 4/5
      Agatha Christie was 75-years old when she wrote (via dictation) this autobiography of her life. Born in 1890, she lived until 1976, so she lived through a lot and she did a lot of different things with her life. During the First World War, she was a nurse, then worked in a dispensary (pharmacy). She loved to travel and in addition to writing, she later helped her archaeologist husband at digs in the Middle East. This was really good. I found it a little more interesting after she became an adult, but it was still interesting to read about the social customs at various points in her life - a lot of that was described really well about the early 20th century. Although I've not read a lot of her books, it was still interesting to read about where she got the ideas for some of her books and such. The edition I got from the library also had a CD included with portions of her dictation. This was recorded in the 70s, so not the best quality, but kind of neat to listen to. Not only that, as I was listening to it in the background while I wrote this review, I flipped back through the book and happened upon the same passage she was dictating; it was also interesting to see how it was slightly changed/rearranged.
    • 4/5
      An invaluable addition to the library of a Christie fan, her somewhat rambling autobiography gives the reader a glimpse of the author as the woman behind the mysteries, as well as descriptions of the background events in her life during her career.
    • 5/5
      This chronological journey through Agatha Christie's life was one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. The philosophies and reflections Agatha shares along the way are refreshing and insightful.Agatha's childhood, growing up in the Victorian era, was so different from what one would expect today (if one can ever talk about a "typical" childhood) that one cannot help but be struck by the comparison. Agatha did not, for example, attend school or have a governess. Her mother hired an untrained French girl to play with her daughter, so that Agatha could learn French. She learned other subjects in other equally unconventional ways. Because she did not attend school, she had time to give free reign to her gifted imagination.Agatha lived through two world wars and worked as a volunteer dispenser of medical drugs to help with the war effort during both wars. During World War I, she married Archie Christie, who left her for another woman shortly after her mother died.Agatha began traveling, alone, and met the man who would become her second husband when he was working on an archeological expedition. Agatha came to know a lot about archaeology and helped to clean sand from fragile artifacts using her face cream.Agatha always had trouble thinking of herself as an author. However, as this autobiography illustrates, Agatha's works, whether fictional or otherwise, are highly entertaining and bear witness to her gift for depicting vivid characters. It was fascinating to witness how much Agatha's life shows up in her fictional works and from whence she drew her inspiration.
    • 5/5
      Over 500 pages and I enjoyed each page. So much I didn't know about her life. She describes a happy childhood and a very close relationship with her mother. Encouraged to begin writing by her sister. So much interesting detail about her life. I Recommend this book to any one that wants to know Christie in her own words.
    • 5/5
      Agatha Christie's memoirs are just as good as Pride and Prejudice, Her memoirs are not appreciated as they should because she was a mystery writer. But you will find here all the Victorian expressions of despair, revolt, love, adventure - and you have to read constantly between the lines. It is a big book to savor slowly. And I would give ten lives of Austen's characters for one as adventurous, intelligent and compassionate as Christie. This was a real lady. More than that: a real woman.
    • 5/5
      Although Agatha Christie's autobiography got off to a slow start, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The broad categories that she included were her childhood and youth, WWI and her first marriage, her second marriage and travels in the Middle East, WWII, and sort of a post-WWII summary. Throughout the book she talks about her writing in a fair amount of detail, including spoilers—most notably for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.The childhood part was rather like listening to a grandparent telling stories of "the good old days", filling in every detail they can remember, and reflecting on how much better everything was, back in the day. This section went on for rather longer than necessary, but is full of fascinating remembrances of a Victorian childhood. She mentions such important subjects as lavatories and bosoms (and, later in the book, morning sickness and bedbugs). It took 200 pages for her to reach adulthood, but then things really got rolling. Once she reaches her late teens, the narrative becomes more continuous, although still with occasional digressions. By the time she got to the end of World War II, I think she was running out of things to say, because she covered the next twenty years in about 25 pages. While Christie was quite candid about many things, it is not surprising that she leaves out others. She talks about her emotional turmoil at the breakup of her first marriage, but makes no mention of her famous disappearance. I was left wondering about her relationship with her daughter. They seem to have been apart for much of Rosalind's childhood, and Agatha mentions several times that their personalities were very different, yet there is no indication of any conflict. I suppose she wrote cautiously to protect her daughter's privacy.There is so much that I like about this autobiography: her memories, her opinions, descriptions of the many places she's visited, and ways that she's traveled, her observations of social changes, her reflections on her writing. I guess my favourite thing about it is that I came away with the feeling that she really did share her life and personality with the reader.
    • 4/5
      In her biography Agatha Christie tells as much about herself through the omissions she makes as through the memories she shares. Here is the famous English stiff upper lip at work, what was difficult will never be complained, times of sorrow and desperation nor so. That said, the story of her life, as she choses to convey it, is as fascinating as any of her books. That she is a keen observer should surprise no one, thus Victorian and Edwardian life in England comes to life as does the real-life archeological adventure she partook in beside her second husband. Her style is light, direct and humorous. Those familiar with her works can easily find a relation between her keen interest in people and places and the portraits both of people and places painted in her mysteries. Although child of her time, she is fast on the tracks of the social changes brought by the two world wars she lived through. Very readable.