Jul 5, The Enduring Intrigue Surrounding Agatha Christie's Disappearance

                                        

I imagine like most Agatha Christie fans, I've always been fascinated by the events surrounding the author's disappearance in December 1926.

Unlike the plots in her brilliant books, the motives underpinning this particular storyline are rather vague.

(Daily Mirror 7th Dec 1926)

What we do know:

Agatha Christie's car was found abandoned at a local beauty spot close to her home in Sunningdale in Surrey on the 3rd of December 1926.

Leaving a bag of clothes and her private possessions inside the car, Agatha Christie travelled to London and caught a train to Harrogate in Yorkshire. Upon arrival, she took a taxi to the Swan Hydro Hotel and signed in under the name of Teresa Neele. Adopting the surname of her husband?s mistress Nancy Neele.

Agatha Christie's disappearance prompted a nationwide search involving over a thousand people officers and members of the public, and for the first time in UK history, aeroplanes were employed as part of the search effort.

Newspapers offered rewards for information and her husband Archie was suspected of foul play.

What I didn't realise until recently was that two of Christie's fellow authors Dorothy L Sayers and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were drafted in to help with the search effort.

11 days after she disappeared Christie was recognised, the police were informed, as was her husband who travelled to Harrogate to take her back home.

Forget Sherlock Holmes' Violin, it's Bob Tappin's banjo you need!

It always tickles me that most accounts of Agatha Christie's disappearance invariably mention the fact that the person who recognised her was Bob Tappin, a local banjo player. This last point is rarely left out, as if to imply that had Mr Tappin decided to take up another instrument in his youth, he simply wouldn't have been capable of his much publicised identification.

The Speculation:

Agatha Christie rarely talked about the incident, simply putting it down to a bout of temporary amnesia caused by a blow to the head.

"For 24 hours I wandered in a dream, and then found myself in Harrogate as a well-contented and perfectly happy woman who believed she had just come from South Africa."

Few people were convinced by this explanation.

The consensus of opinion at the time was that the whole affair (no pun intended) was an act of revenge aimed at her erring husband.

Writing for the Guardian newspaper in 2000, John Ezard interviewed the daughter of Christie's sister-in-law and friend, Nan Watts, who claimed that she learned the truth of what happened as a child while in the company of her mother and Christie herself.

She claims that on the night that she disappeared, she was hidden away by Nan Watts at their Chelsea home before being put on a train to Harrogate the following day.

"She then just sat there in her hotel room, hiding away...But she had signed the guests' register in the name Neele - the surname of her husband's lover...It was carefully orchestrated...She wanted Archie back...She wanted to give him a shock...If she had had amnesia she would not have signed the register in the other woman's name...My mother helped her because she was distraught. I think she went to my mother because she had been through a divorce. [Mrs Christie] never did it for the publicity. That was the last thing she would have thought of. She was very upset and shocked - it all went rather wrong."

In his article, John Ezard points out that following her death in 1976, her first wedding ring and Mr Christie's letters were found in her writing case. He also adds that Christie?s biographer Janet Morgan was not convinced by the 'revenge' theory, claiming that she was "sick and bewildered" before and after her flight.

Related Material:

Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days:

Biographer Jared Cade investigates the famous mystery writer's 11 day disappearance in 1926.

Agatha Christie: An Autobiography:

Dame Agatha sheds light on her secretive life and tells of her early years in Victorian England, her marriages and world travels, her rise to success, the creative process behind her acclaimed novels and plays, and the events, places, and people that shaped her work.

Mystery of Agatha Christie:

Gwen Robyns explores the mysterious life of the Queen of Crime, including her infamous disappearance in December 1926.

Agatha Christie Biography:

Janet Morgan's very interesting biography is aided by the fact that she was given access to private letters.

The Lost Days of Agatha Christie:

Interesting twist on the disapperance in which Dr. Carole Owens, a practicing psychotherapist, takes on Christie as a patient to diagnose her problem and solve the mystery of The Lost Days.

Looking For Something In Particular? Try Google SearchBack To Top Of The Page

Go From Agatha Christie's Disappearance Back To The Home Page

                                        

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.