Agatha Christie

In 1926, her husband disclosed his relationship with another woman. On December 3, 1926, after a quarrel between Agatha and her husband, she disappeared from her house.

On December 14, 1926, she was identified at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire. It is believed that she experienced a nervous breakdown probably due to the death of her mother earlier that year and her husband’s infidelity.

Hailing from an upper middle class family of Devon, in South West England, Agatha Christie was born as Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, the third child of Frederick Alvah Miller and Clara Boehmer.

She spent her childhood days in a happy environment surrounded by some strong and independent women. On the insistence of her mother, she received a home education on arithmetic. She also learnt to play the piano and the mandolin at home.

In 1901, her family went through financial crisis on account of her father’s death. The sad demise of her father ended her childhood. She started living together with her mother in their Torquay home.

In 1902, she took admission at Miss Guyer’s Girls School in Torquay, but could not continue her study there.

In 1905, she went to Paris, France where she studied singing and piano at Mrs Dryden’s finishing school.

Her first short story was ‘The House of Beauty’ which described the world of ‘madness and dreams’. She continued writing short stories, which mirrored her interest in spiritualism and paranormal activities.

She wrote a novel, namely, ‘Snow Upon the Desert’ which she sent to some publishers under the pseudonym of Monosyllaba. Unfortunately, publishers were reluctant to publish her works.

During World War I in 1914, Agatha joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment. During her service there, she attended injured soldiers at the hospital in Torquay, England.

From October 1914 to December 1916, she dedicated her time by serving for 3,400 hours of unpaid work.

From December 1916 until the end of her service in September 1918, she earned a wage as a dispenser at an annual rate of �16.

Her novel ‘Murder in Mesopotamia’, set in the backdrop of Middle East, appeared in 1936. This book is remarkable for its vivid description of an archaeological dig site and the characters of this book are based on archaeologists whom she met in real life.

Published in 1938, the novel ‘Appointment with Death’ features her well-known detective character Hercule Poirot. The novel is set in Jerusalem and the book offers some very descriptive details of sites which she herself would have visited in order to write the book.