An Autobiography

First Class Writing and Reading

A superb, and long!, comfort-read, with vivid pictures of a Victorian childhood, nursing during WWI in London, lots of travel (surfing in Hawaii in the 1920s!) and (not quite enough) of the life of a working writer. It's largely vividly remembered anecdotes of Christie's life filtered through her novelist's eye; it feels on the whole more like a novel than a memoir.

This is no misery memoir or tell-all-- Christie likes everybody and enjoys everything, has an idyllic childhood, a comfortable middle-class life, and then becomes of course an incredible success. There are some money worries, a divorce etc that are rather swiftly gone over, but they only make her eventual triumph sweeter. It's hard to believe the real Christie was quite such an uncomplicated creature but the 'character' she creates of herself is someone I'd cheerfully spend a long train journey with.

This would all be terribly dull except for the fact that Christie is simply an incredibly good writer (and up till now I haven't been a fan, I think I've only read a couple of her books). She can make even a scene of uneventfully choosing wallpaper entertaining, with the deft characterisation of the workman and a wee three-act structure. Always pleasant and fun, the book has touches of greatness-- her channeling of her childhood self must be one of the great depictions of the child-mind, up there with David Copperfield.

This book is already great, and Judith Boyd's reading makes it wonderful. She reads with all the energy and drama of a novel, I'll definitely look out for other readings by her.

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Entertaining account of an amazing life

David Suchet’s reminiscences about his 25 years playing Poirot and his interactions with Agatha Christie’s daughter and son-in-law who vigilantly administer her estate made me curious about the woman who created these novels and who was and still is a world-wide success,

Agatha Christie took many years to write her autobiography and in many ways its like a diary of her day-to-day life. I had no idea what a varied, exciting and a time exotic and dangerous life she had experienced.

Her writing style is well suited to being read aloud and she seems to be speaking directly to the reader/listener. I was surprised at the how humorous and often self-deprecating she was about her talents and how she merely treated her writing as a job that had to be done and got on with it.

It is a very long long book but I enjoyed hearing about her, at times, extraordinary life. I have to admit that I didn’t hear every bit of it as I listened while bedridden suffering from a bout of flu and tend to drift in and out of sleep. But the merit of highly detailed account like this means that if you miss some sections you don’t lose the thread of the life.

Most writers of autobiography pass quickly over their childhood years, but not Mrs Chirstie. At first I thought it would be tedious but she evokes a happy Victorian childhood in a comfortably off family so engagingly that I wasn’t bored. I was impressed by her cool head and courage nursing horribly injured soldiers during the First World War and her stoicism while travelling in the Middle East with her archeologist, second husband.

Despite her enormous success as a writer she remained remarkably modest about her achievements.

If you enjoy her novels and/or followed the Poirot and Miss Marple TV series I think you’ll enjoy hearing about the woman whose imagination conjured up these idiosyncratic characters and ingenious plots.

I don’t know what Agatha Christie sounded like but Judith Boyd made me think I was listening to the author telling her story.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Interesting, well-written/well-read autobiography

This is an interesting and well written account of the crime writer Agatha Christie’s life, from when she was a small child through to her 75th year. It is very easy listening and provided a comprehensive account of her background, where she lived, what she did, who she encountered (including relatives) and what she thought of them. It is as if you were sitting next to her and she was recounting her life in detail and in chronological order. However, as with all autobiographies, it only relates what the author wants to remember and wants to share. So, there are no shocking revelations, but on the whole I think it is candid and well balanced.

Christie does little to hide any social/class biases she had, although it is clear that she recognised the significant social changes through which she had lived. After listening to this book I held her in greater esteem than before, not for her writing, but for being true to herself. She came from a ‘comfortable’ background; she knew it and accepted it.

The book also showed Christie as a young and adventurous girl, someone who was a complex mixture of emotions, sometimes thoughtful and reflective, sometimes risk taking. What disappointed me a little was the relatively small amount of prose allocated to her literately work, there are some insightful comments, but they were relatively thin on the ground. Considering how widely travelled she was, the accounts of people rather than places seems to dominate and this, perhaps, is why she was such a successful author. Also, she wrote it looking back as a seventy five year old woman and I suspect that her quite vivid accounts of some parts of her life might actually be more faction than fact, in the sense that a biographer may have undertaken much research, whilst this book is probably what the author has remembered, or thought she remembered.

Finally, Judith Boyd gave Christie a voice that was consistent and measured. I suspect that she captured the manner in which the Author might have read it herself.

If you like biographies and wish to know about Agatha Christie’s full and interesting life then this is a good choice… as long as you are not seeking great insights about her literary works.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

More twists & turns than one of her novels

What made the experience of listening to An Autobiography the most enjoyable?

I loved the way she describes the way she has used her imagination at different times throughout her life. I also enjoyed finding out there was much more to her life than her books and that she found it hard to think of herself as a professional writer.

What was one of the most memorable moments of An Autobiography?

It's hard to pick just one, maybe it's her mentioning "the kittens" as her way to entertain herself.

What does Judith Boyd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The voices, especially of Agatha as a child. And it sometimes felt as though I had gone to tea with Agatha and she was telling me her life story over scones and jam.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both, especially during both the wars.

Any additional comments?

This made my journey to and from work seem much shorter and I often wanted to stay sat in the car once the drive was over just to continue listening.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amazing Woman

Where does An Autobiography rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

High up the list. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. Learned so much about the life of one of my favourite writers

Who was your favorite character and why?

Max Mallowan - her 2nd Husband. Had a tremendous influence on her life and clearly his interest in archeology awoke something in Agatha that influenced many of her novels.

What about Judith Boyd’s performance did you like?

Clearly read with passion and the right amount of inflection and emotion in the voice. She used different voices for different characters and to good effect. Full marks

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The real woman behind Hercule Poirot

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A little bit of history!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book because it gives an insight into Agatha's life and the time she lived in.

What did you like best about this story?

The details about people of that time.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Her childhood stories, they were so inspiring, and her very relaxed attitude to life, not taking anything too seriously and just enjoying and going with the flow of life.

Any additional comments?

An excellent listen, I really enjoyed this book and looked forward to playing it every time. The reader was generally good (it could have been Agatha reading it), however at times the childish voice came about when it was unnecessary.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Just really amazing

Can only say what a life story. Took me a few goes to get going but completely addictive stuff. Incredible life. Sorry to get to the end.

best story ever

the voice of the narrator is just lovely, it really feel like it is Agatha herself telling it. The change of tones is natural and fantastically show different characters. I'll never forget the warmth I feel during the listening, marvellous!

Self-indulgent and uninteresting

A very self-indulgent autobiography that doesn't reveal a lot about the author's emotional life and leaves much to be desired when it comes to her writing habits and general literary development. The not-so-casual racism, classism and misogyny was expected but grated nevertheless, and I found some of the "characters" painfully unlikable. I particularly detested her brother Monty who thankfully didn't feature much. All in all, I did find bits of it interesting, but it didn't warrant the nearly 30-hour listen.

Brilliant!

This was great from start to finish. Jumps around a little but stick with it!