Agatha Christie was born in 1890 in Torquay, southwest England, as the youngest of three siblings. She was educated at home, and given her vivid imagination as a child and her enjoyment in creating characters, her mother constantly encouraged her to write.
When the author was five or six years old, due to severe financial circumstances, her family was compelled to rent a house in Torquay and move to more affordable France. They spent time in Parisian, Breton, and Pyrenean hotels, which seemingly had a significant impact on young Agatha.
"Two winters and one summer that I spent in Paris were some of the happiest days of my life. Wonderful things were happening all the time." - Agatha Christie
In France, she received formal musical education and also developed an interest in fashion. However, she found French society disappointing, so she enjoyed opera outings, trips to Versailles, Fontainebleau, and other historical sites much more.
Her first trip outside Europe was with her mother. They traveled to Cairo, where young Agatha Christie was introduced to the local "high society." She attended dances, socialized, and amused herself, paying little attention to the sights of ancient Egyptian civilization at that time.
She later remarked: "Luxor, Karnak, and the beauty of Egypt had a wonderful influence on me about 20 years later. The experience would have been ruined if I had seen them with ungrateful eyes."
Agatha Christie married Colonel and Royal Air Force pilot Archibald Christie in 1914. They had one daughter.
In December 1926, she disappeared for 11 days, causing panic in the media. As she claimed, the reason for her disappearance was amnesia caused by a nervous breakdown due to her mother's death and her husband's infidelity.
She remarried in 1930 to a British archaeologist 14 years her junior.
"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her." - Agatha Christie
During World War I, the "queen of crime" worked as a nurse in a hospital and later in a pharmacy. This significantly influenced her literary works, as many murders in Agatha's novels were committed with poison.
Agatha Christie often began her novels with a murder. She had the ability to create unforgettable, multi-dimensional characters, and the plots were usually focused on the process of finding the culprit. Most often, the perpetrator turned out to be the least suspected person.
She said she came up with plots just before writing the book, as ideas came to her in everyday situations, such as during walks or browsing hat shops.
Her first book titled "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" was published in 1920. The story focuses on the murder of a wealthy heiress, and in that novel, Agatha Christie introduced readers to her most famous character - the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
She wrote over 80 novels and plays that have sold over a billion copies. Most of the great writer's books have been adapted into films.
"The secret of success is just to get started."
Agatha Christie
The literary works of Agatha Christie:
"Murder on the Orient Express" Probably Agatha Christie's most famous novel featuring the main character Hercule Poirot. The Belgian detective finds himself on the legendary train on a three-day journey from Istanbul to Paris.
During the night, a snowstorm stops the train in a deserted place somewhere between Vinkovci and Slavonski Brod. The silence is broken by a loud scream. For one person, the journey ends in the worst possible way - she is stabbed to death in her locked compartment. In the morning, Hercule Poirot sets out to find the culprit.
"Death on the Nile" It's one of Agatha Christie's best novels. Young, beautiful, and elegant Linnet Ridgeway is shot during an exotic cruise on the Nile. She was a girl who had everything until she lost her life.
By chance, the renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on the ship. The backbone of the story is the love triangle between Linnet, Simon Doyle, and Jacqueline De Bellefort.
Alongside them, Poirot meets other members of high society who, despite their wealth and status, have their dark secrets.
"Taken at the Flood" A detective novel by Agatha Christie with the famous detective Poirot in the lead role. Several weeks after marrying the attractive widow Rosaleen Underhay, Gordon Cloade is killed in a bomb explosion in London.
The young woman, a double widow, became the sole heir to his family's immense wealth.
Shortly after that, Hercule Poirot is visited by the dead man's sister-in-law, who claims that "spirits" warned her that Mrs. Underhay's first husband is still alive.
"Sad Cypress" The novel was the first in the Poirot series whose action takes place at least partially in the courtroom. In solving the crime, along with the Belgian detective, lawyers and witnesses participate.
In this detective story by Agatha Christie, Poirot tries to save the life of a young woman accused of double murder.
Elinor Carlisle has been sentenced to death for poisoning her aunt. However, Hercule cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong. Despite the evidence against her, it is possible that one small clue could prove her innocence. Is there a better person for that than Poirot?
"The Cat Among the Pigeons" It's the beginning of the school year at an exclusive girls' school. Everything seems normal, like in any other school in the world. Until a murder happens!
One evening, two teachers spot a mysterious light in the sports pavilion. Meanwhile, the rest of the school is asleep. They come across the body of a woman - stabbed in the heart from close range.
Unusual events unfold, international intrigues, and all involved - students, teachers, and school staff may not be what they seem.