I have always been in love with Agatha Christie. Her rich world full of adventures, her mysterious characters, and the universe she created have enriched my childhood. One of my New Year’s resolutions included finishing her autobiography, which I began reading in 2020.

What a lovely surprise Agatha’s life offered me! Not only she had an exciting life, which explains a lot of her amazing creativity, but she offers a wise depiction of what is real and valuable in life.

Agatha traveled a lot and in unexpected places for those times. Her education was developed mostly at home, but she also had formal schooling in Paris. She had fun and she enjoyed her youth, having a victorian serene childhood. She faced life with a bold attitude, even when her first husband left her for a younger woman. She opened her heart to love again at 40, remarrying and following her husband on his trips around the world.

What a life rich of events: the end of the victorian age, the first WW, the second one, the sexual revolution!

Here are some quotes I really enjoyed:

ABOUT LOVE:

“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them. ” 

ABOUT EDUCATION:

“I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.” 

ABOUT WORKING:

“I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.” 

“The position of women, over the years, has definitely changed for the worse. we women have behaved like mugs, We have clamored to be allowed to work as men work. Men, not being fools, have taken kindly to the idea. Why support a wife? What’s wrong with a wife supporting herself? She wants to do it. By golly, she can go on doing it!
It seems sad that having established ourselves so cleverly as the “weaker sex” we should now be broadly on a par with the women of primitive tribes who toil in the fields all day, walk miles to gather camelthorn for fuel, and on trek carry all the pots, pans, and household equipment on their heads, while the gorgeous, ornamental male sweeps on ahead, unburdened save for one lethal weapon with which to defend his women.” 

ABOUT TRAVELING

“Never go back to a place where you have been happy. Until you do it remains alive for you. If you go back it will be destroyed.” 

ABOUT FAMILY

“In every family, there is usually one member who is a source of trouble and worry.” 

This is the perfect book to be read during holidays, with a relaxed mind. It has more or less 600 pages, so it requires time.

I read this book in Italian, but you can buy the English version here

Many thanks to https://www.pangea.news/agatha-christie-il-segreto-della-sua-scomparsa-nel-1926/ for this photo.