Agatha Christie: An Exclusive Woman by Lucy Worsley

I love a deep dive into any writer’s life, but when I heard about this book I had to run. Dubbed as the definitive biography of one of the worlds' best known mystery writers, “Agatha Christie” by Lucy Worsley, is based on personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen before. Worsley guides us from Christie’s childhood in Southwest England, with her parents and two siblings, and into her marriage to a handsome pilot named Archie. While he was away at war, she worked in a hospital  pharmacy, where she kept lists of poisons in a notebook. A promising research job for any aspiring writer. Shortly after the birth of her daughter Rosalind, she was able to secure a publisher for her first book. Her marriage to Archie did not last long, as he left her for another woman. Shortly after she found out about her husband’s lover, Christie disappeared for 11 days. Despite her disappearance and the mystery that still surrounds it, she was able to marry again and move on with her life. She would go on to write  66 detective novels, 14 short story collections, and the world’s longest-running mystery play, “The Mousetrap.”  I loved learning more about her life, and hope to one day read “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” which is supposed to be her finest mystery. She was a trend-setter not only for her writing, but for carving out a fantastic career at a time when women were discouraged from doing so.  To buy this book on Amazon click here.