Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie
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Although she is the most popular novelist in history, with over two billion books sold worldwide, Agatha Christie lived a life shrouded in secrecy and fueled by curiosity. Nearly as notorious for her aversion to the press as she was for her 80 books and collections of short stories, Christie made no secret of her need for privacy. Utilizing over 5,000 previously unpublished letters, notes, and documents, award-winning biographer Richard Hack allows Christie to write again, 33 years after her death. Duchess of Death is her story, as full of romance, travel, wealth, and scandal as any mystery Christie ever crafted, and revealed in a style equal to her most famous detective, Hercule Poirot. Publishers Weekly Best known for biographies of Howard Hughes, Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner and J. Edgar Hoover, Hack this time investigates the grand dame of the mystery novel, Agatha Christie. Hack smartly opens with the prolific U.K. author's biggest mystery: an eleven-day disappearing act she pulled in 1926, following the final breakdown of her marriage. From there, Hack meticulously recounts her personal and professional life, exploring Christie's youth in seaside Devon, her beginnings as a writer, and her global escapades with second husband Max Mallowan. Hack is thorough with the facts, but also humanizes his subject with personal details like Christie's strained relationship with her daughter, well-rooted in letters and other primary sources (including Christie's autobiography). Though occasionally overwritten, Hack's work should entrance Christie fans, as well as anyone who enjoys lively literary biography. Color photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
