Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days

This is a good and interesting read. Its basic thesis is that Agatha Christie plotted her mysterious disappearance in December 1926 to spite her then husband for his adultery. What she was unable to predict and to control, as she could with characters she created, was how others would respond, particularly her husband and the ravenous English press--and, Cade suggests, that explosion scarred a very private person to the end of her days. The book is very well researched, drawing on the knowledge and inferences of Christie's relatives, Judith and Graham Gardner. The latter point is important, because in the aftermath of her reemergence her family circled the wagons and kept her secrets alongside her. (As Christiephiles know, this most famous event in her life is not discussed in her memoirs.) Cade writes well and clearly and, to my mind, does an excellent job of tracing his subject's oblique references to the event in her novels, particularly those published under the name of Mary Westmacott. It is a sympathetic and persuasive reconstruction.

My quibble with the book, which often shades into quarrel, is that the author tends to write as though he has entered Miss Christie's mind, even as a child, and can articulate for her what she herself refused to confirm, or even to address. No matter how sympathetic an author tries to be, such an endeavor is simply impossible. Even if Agatha Christie herself had done so, human beings reflect on significant events of their lives in different ways at different ages. Cade reconstructs and recounts his subject's life the way that a mystery novelist does, such that Cade casts himself as Poirot or the "omniscient narrator," in effect if not exactly by intent.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting and informative biography, because Cade uses "the eleven missing days" as a window onto the whole of his subject's life and the peculiarities of Edwardian England. I left it appreciative of the imperfections, fragility, and toughness, not only of Agatha Christie, but of the people around her. Human beings are complicated creatures; few are outright heroes or villains. Miss Christie's finest mystery turns out to have been not one she wrote but one she lived. Such is true of us all, whatever our professions.

This well-researched, accessible analysis of the legendary "disappearance" of the notoriously shy author is a must-read for every Christie fan, as well as a treasure-trove of informed speculation and fact for students of the pathology of unhappy marriages.

There have been many books written about Agatha Christie since she died 32 years ago and I place this brilliantly researched biography second only to her own autobiography. A number of events, not least the famous disappearance, were completely ignored and left out of her autobiography - either at her own discretion or that of her immediate family's since it was published after her death. Jared Cade's objective and affectionate accounts fills in the missing blanks and unravels what happened when she disappeared. His biography is particularly merit-worthy because it is the only biography to be officially endorsed by Agatha Christie's sister-in-law's side of the family. The same relatives also featured with him in a television documentary based on this book. If you missed it, don't despair. Buy this book instead. A great book that deserves a place on any self-respecting Christie addicts bookshelves.

An excellent 'insider's view' of the reclusive writers life. I feel like I have been able to get to know Agatha as a person rather than simply a name on a book. Cade seems to have excellent insight into Agatha, showing empathy, for Agatha and her family, and real intelligence. I have always been interested in agatha since we share the same birthday however Cade seems to have brought her to life where others have failed miserably.
I was constantly fascinated by the realm of people Cade interviewed apart from family, even those people involved in the search!
The proof was in the pudding when it was made into a television documentary.
I can't wait to read more works written by this Cade fellow - what a talent!

Interesting analysis of Agatha Christie's 1926 disappearance. Some conjecture is taken as fact, but a solid read. I recommend it.