An Autobiography

by Agatha Christie

Published 1977

This was a truly delightful read.  I have long been a fan of Christie’s mysteries (I’ve never noticed how that rhymes!), but even so her autobiography was an unexpected delight.  Her writing style was incredibly personable, her remembrances great fun, and the first-hand experiences of someone living through one of the most tumultuous centuries in history were fascinating to read.

The book was really more of memoir than a strict autobiography.  While she followed the story of her life in a more-or-less linear fashion, the  book was full of wonderful bunny trails.  While one cannot always agree with her every opinion, they are so pleasantly given that one cannot help but respect them.  She had much to say on the changes in society throughout her lifetime, on marriage, on children, on education–but don’t think that her book was nothing but a treatise on the Decline of Society.  So many stories of her childhood and youth, of love and marriage, of her writing (both struggles and triumphs), and of travel!  So much of travel!  It was astonishing to think of how many miles this woman has traveled in her life!

All in all, I highly recommend this book, even if you are not particularly a big fan of Christie’s fiction.  It is simply a fascinating story of someone who lived through both world wars and so much more.