Agatha Christie

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Moonraker
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Moonraker »

Courtenay wrote:You've gone and done the Roger Ackroyd spoiler there, Pete — although I'd heard it before, which is the main reason why I've never bothered to read that one
Unforgivable, Pete. You may well have ruined the joy of reading this book for many people. :evil:
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Courtenay »

Well, not Pete directly, but the article he copied and pasted. Which they could easily have avoided by simply saying Enid's brother-in-law gave her the idea for the crucial plot twist in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, without telling everyone what it is... :roll:
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

Image

More info about Abney Hall , much of which is new to me:

Abney Hall by Ian O'Brien
Cheadle Grove Printworks was built in 1760, and whilst it was in operation, a series of reservoirs were constructed in the grounds to store water from Chorlton Brook, however, these were later filled in. unfortunately, 87 years later, in 1847 there was a huge disaster, the printworks were razed to the ground, as bad as this was at the time, an Alfred Orell, former mayor of Stockport, seized the opportunity to build what is today, one of Cheadle's grandest buildings, Abney Hall.

However, it wasn't named Abney Hall to start with, it was named 'The Grove' by Alfred Orell. After his death at the tender age of 33, only two years after marrying Louisa Broadhurst and with the Hall still not fully constructed, it was bought by a James Watts, who owned the large haberdashery wholesalers, S & J Watts with his brothers, and their warehouse was in the building which houses Britannia Hotel in Portland Street, Manchester.

James Watts finished the building work and extended the house. It was at this point that James Watts was responsible for renaming it 'Abney Hall' after in the words of his son, "Sir Thomas Abney who entertained Sir Isaac Watts for thirty years".

Built as a private home, the hall has reception rooms dating from the 1850s designed and decorated by A.N.N. Pugin and J.G. Crace. These were the most fashionable interior designers of the time and worked on the Houses of Parliament and other aristocratic residences throughout the British Empire. Unfortunately, Augustus Pugin died in 1852 before it was completed, so it was handed over to J G Crace, a disciple of Pugin, who was well known for his wallpaper designs and decors, to complete the task between 1852 and 1857.
The interior of the Hall still bears the signs of the Gothic influence so much favoured bu Pugin and Crace. Further extensions took place in the 1890s.

It was 1857 in fact, that the Hall was considered ready for the arrival of Prince Albert, who was visiting Manchester on a two day visit, and the building was described as one of the most princely mansions in the neighbourhood!

The grounds of the Hall were already laid out and fully landscaped when Watts bought the Hall. The walled garden in the grounds hides an ingenious but extravagant invention which kept the orchard and vegetable garden warm and healthy throughout the year. The walls contain cavities and during the heyday of the hall, warm air was blown from a furnace in the cellar, through the cavities and out of a gothic style ventilation shaft so there was very little to do, and the grounds are now only a tenth of the original size.

Abney Hall has accommodated to name but a few....Benjamin Disraeli, King Edward Vll, William Gladstone (1862), Prince Albert (1857), and Agatha Christie. It also became the Cheadle & Gatley Town Hall in 1959 to replace Bruntwood Hall (built 1861, which previously acted as town hall 1944-1959).
A succession of Watts had elder sons called James, and no fewer than four of them lived at the Hall during their ownership.

The wife of the second of these James Watts was the sister of Agatha Christie, the novelist Agatha Christie was said to have written the short story 'After the funeral' which was based on Abney Hall, and 'The adventures of the Christmas pudding' she describes a child's Christmas at the Hall.
http://cheadlevillage.net/local-history/abney-hall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

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It was the last great mystery that Agatha Christie left unsolved – claiming amnesia after she disappeared for 11 days in 1926.

Now writer Andrew Wilson has unveiled a new theory as to why she vanished with no explanation: that she had left her home intending to take her own life.

But after crashing her car she was overcome by her Christian belief that suicide was a sin, and felt so ashamed of herself that she constructed the idea that she suffered from memory loss, according to Wilson.

Wilson's new novel A Talent For Murder is fictional, but is based on his theory that the truth about Christie’s disappearance has been “hiding in plain sight”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05 ... -suggests/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Just bought the book on special offer on kindle reduced from £14.99 to 99p:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FR8HS22/ ... TF8&btkr=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Moonraker »

It was the last great mystery that Agatha Christie left unsolved – claiming amnesia after she disappeared for 11 days in 1926.
This has already been explained in the Doctor Who story - The Unicorn and the Wasp (Series 4 Ep7).
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

Images of Agatha Christie throughout her life...

https://imgur.com/a/dvXnY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I saw a TV film about Agatha booking into the hotel in Harrogate and was going to electrocute herself. It was on a few years ago now. And to me it seemed the logical explanation of her disappearance to commit suicide.

8)
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Eddie Muir »

pete9012S wrote:Images of Agatha Christie throughout her life...

https://imgur.com/a/dvXnY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Most interesting, Pete. :D
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Re: Agatha Christie

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Julie2owlsdene wrote:I saw a TV film about Agatha booking into the hotel in Harrogate and was going to electrocute herself. It was on a few years ago now. And to me it seemed the logical explanation of her disappearance to commit suicide.
I think the Unicorn and the Wasp made more sense than that theory!
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I can't remember now how that episode went. :roll:

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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by pete9012S »

Julie2owlsdene wrote:I saw a TV film about Agatha booking into the hotel in Harrogate and was going to electrocute herself. It was on a few years ago now. And to me it seemed the logical explanation of her disappearance to commit suicide.
Yes, good point - and this article offers an even more sensational suggestion:


https://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2 ... a-christie" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Chrissie777 »

pete9012S wrote:Now writer Andrew Wilson has unveiled a new theory as to why she vanished with no explanation: that she had left her home intending to take her own life.
Wilson's new novel A Talent For Murder is fictional, but is based on his theory that the truth about Christie’s disappearance has been “hiding in plain sight”.
Pete, Andrew Wilson also wrote an excellent biography on one of my favorite crime novelists, Patricia Highsmith:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beautiful-Shad ... +highsmith" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've read it a few years ago and can highly recommend it to any Highsmith fan.
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Eddie Muir »

Thanks for the information about the Patricia Highsmith biography, Chrissie. I’m just about to check it out. :D
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Chrissie777 »

Eddie, you're very welcome!
There are at least two other biographies on Highsmith, one written by Joan Schenkar (sp?) which has a wealth of information, but is written in a rather chaotic way (I prefer chronologically written (auto)biographies).
And one more written by a former lover of Highsmith which I still need to read.

Highsmith had neither a happy nor an easy life, so Andrew Wilson's biography on her is partly depressing.
On the other hand it's amazing how productive Highsmith was nevertheless her life circumstances. 8)
I will definitely read it again at some point.
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Re: Agatha Christie

Post by Wolfgang »

I started to record "Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie" https://www.fernsehserien.de/les-petits ... sodenguide. Both a German and a French station started to air it. If you are to believe the French Wikipedia entry https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Petit ... a_Christie, it hasn't been aired in English yet.
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