As part of the Classics Club 

‘Women’s Classic Literature Event 2016’

The question for the month of April is:

‘Share an interesting fact about the life of the author you’re currently reading for this event.’

My next read for the Club is going to be And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.  I haven’t started yet but I’ve just picked up a copy and so decided to make Agatha Christie the author of choice for this month’s question.

Now, I could just put a bunch of facts down now that I’ve read up about Agatha being home schooled or that she wrote her first books as a challenge from her sister Madge but what I found most intriguing, particularly given her style of books which have proved so very popular over the years, is the fact that she went missing herself!  Life imitating art imitating life!?!?

On the 3rd December 1926 Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days sparking a major manhunt involving police, volunteers and even aeroplanes!

Her car was found fairly quickly by the police and didn’t seem to have any signs of foul play and yet at the same time held no clues as to Agatha’s strange disappearance!

Agatha’s husband was suspected of foul play.  Arthur Conan Doyle tried to find Agatha using a medium and Dorothy Sayers visited the spot where her car was found to search for clues!

Finally, after 11 days of searching Agatha was found.  Located in a hotel in Harrogate.  To this day nobody has ever solved this mystery.  It is believed that Agatha’s husband was having an affair and she did in fact divorce him later on.  It is also suggested that she may have been in some form of car accident and suffered amnesia.  Another theory is that she was in a ‘fugue’ state – brought on by depression. 

Basically, it’s a mystery and perhaps only one that Miss Marple or Poirot himself can solve!  Was it all a very elaborate publicity stunt??  Who knows but it really does go to show that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction!

What really happened people.  Foul play or just a hoax??