Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
"Queen of Crime" Fiction; Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa (Miller) Christie, Mallowan
She is the best-selling novelist of all time, having sold more than two billion books, and her novel And Then There Were None (1939) is one of the top-selling books of all time with about 100-million copies sold worldwide. She wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in London's West End since 1952, and according to UNESCO's Index Translationum she remains the world's most-translated individual author. Known as the "Queen of Crime," she made her name in the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction," and in 1955 she became the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. In 1971, she was created a "Dame" (D.B.E.) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature.
Born in Torquay, Devon, she was initially unsuccessful as a writer with six consecutive rejections, but that changed in 1920 when her literary agent, J. Hughes Massie, helped her publish The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Her career saw her author 66-detective novels and 14 short-story collections including six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. More than 30 feature films have been based on her work, and her best known and most enduringly popular stories involve her fictional sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
In 1914, she married Col. Archie Christie and they had one child before divorcing in 1928. Following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926, she made international headlines by going missing for 11-days. During both world wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons that featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on archaeological excavations in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction. They lived at "Greenway House" near Galmpton in Devon, now owned by the National Trust.
Born in Torquay, Devon, she was initially unsuccessful as a writer with six consecutive rejections, but that changed in 1920 when her literary agent, J. Hughes Massie, helped her publish The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Her career saw her author 66-detective novels and 14 short-story collections including six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. More than 30 feature films have been based on her work, and her best known and most enduringly popular stories involve her fictional sleuths, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
In 1914, she married Col. Archie Christie and they had one child before divorcing in 1928. Following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926, she made international headlines by going missing for 11-days. During both world wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons that featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on archaeological excavations in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of his profession in her fiction. They lived at "Greenway House" near Galmpton in Devon, now owned by the National Trust.
