Agatha Christie is a household name for those who love crime fiction. She was an English novelist who rose to fame with her two fictional detective characters- Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
Agatha was born on 15 September 1890 in Torquay, Devon, England. Her father was Frederick Alvah Miller and her mother was Clarissa Margaret Clara Miller.
Christie’s birth name was Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller and she was the youngest of the three children of her parents.
In her writing career, she was extremely successful as a novelist. Many of her books are adapted for feature films, video games, Tv and radio shows, and graphic novels. According to the Guinness World Records, she is the best-selling fiction writer of all time. Besides, she is also the most translated individual writer.
In fact, her stage play “The Mousetrap” still runs in Theatre being the longest-running play in the world.
Early Life
Christie was born in an upper-middle-class family. Her father was American and her mother was British.
From early childhood, she developed the hobby of reading. Also, she used to play and talk with her imaginary companions. Unlike her sisters, Agatha was not sent to a boarding school. Instead, she received home education on reading, writing, arithmetic, music, playing piano, and mandolin.
After her father’s death in November 2001, she got admitted to a girls’ school and studied there from 1902-1905. Later, she attended several boarding schools in Paris from 1905-1910 on voice training and playing piano. Then she returned to her struggling family in England and started writing several novels and short stories. Although all of them were rejected initially.
Short Profile
| Name | Agatha Christie |
| Father’s Name | Frederick Alvah Miller |
| Mother’s Name | Clarissa Margaret Clara Miller |
| Date of Birth | September 15, 1890 |
| Birth Place | Torquay, Devon, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of Death | 12 January 1976 |
| Living Years | 85 Years |
| Profession | Novelist |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
Career
As already mentioned, Agatha Christie developed an interest in writing in her early adolescence. At the age of 18, she wrote her first short story of 6000 words named “The House of Beauty.” But this was rejected by the publishers along with her other submissions.
However, her first novel Snow Upon the Desert was rejected by six consecutive publishers which left her in utter disappointment.
Upon her mother’s suggestion, she sought advice from the famous novelist Eden Phillpotts who was their family friend and neighbor. Eden Phillpotts introduced her to his personal literary agent who advised Christie to work on her second novel while declining the first one.
As an avid fan of detective stories, she wrote her first detective novel in 1916. The name of the novel was The Mysterious Affair at Styles featuring Hercule Poirot. The novel was published in 1920 after several changes in the plot.
In her second novel, she introduced a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence which was published in 1922. By the time of publishing her third novel, Murder on the Links, she was quite popular as a crime-novel writer.
Her most famous detective character Hercule Poirot appeared in 33 novels and 50 short stories. Another famous character Miss Jane Marple was introduced in December 1927 which was a huge success as well.
Christie wrote two novels during Second World War, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, which featured Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. The Curtain was published in 1975 under her daughter’s authorization and Sleeping Murder was published in 1976 posthumously.
During her lifetime, Agatha wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. Due to the massive commercial and critical acceptance of her fictional crime stories, she was named the “Queen of Crime”.
Guinness World Records state that more than two billion copies of her novels have been sold which makes her the best-selling fiction author of all time. Also, she is the writer of the world-famous murder mystery The Mousetrap which has been performed in theatre since 1952.
In 1971, Christie was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth ll for her immense contribution to English literature.
Nevertheless, she also wrote six mainstream novels under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott. These books were also critically acclaimed.
However, we find some famous non-fiction by this legendary writer as well, Come, Tell Me How You Live, etc. to name a few.
Marriage
Agatha Christie was married twice. Her first marriage was in 1914 with Archibald Archie Christie which lasted for 14 years. They got divorced in 1928. After her first marriage, she was named Agatha Christie which she used in most of her literary works even after their divorce.
Archibald Christie was a military officer with whom Agatha gave birth to their only child Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Christie. Rosalind was born in 1919.
However, she remarried Max Mallowan who was an archaeologist by profession. Their marriage lasted till Agatha’s death in 1976.
| Spouse | Duration of Marriage |
| Archibald Christie | 1914-1928 |
| Max Mallowan | 1930-1976 |
Death
At the age of 85, Agatha Christie breathed her last on 12 January 1976. She died from natural causes at her home in Winterbrook, UK. According to her wish, she was buried in St Mary’s churchyard which she had chosen 10 years prior to her death. The simple funeral of Agatha was attended by 20 TV and print reporters.
Net Worth
Agatha was the world’s best-seller writer and she sold around 300 million books during her lifetime.
It’s hard to pinpoint her net worth up to the last penny but one estimation states that she earned $20 million approximately from her more than 50 years of writing career. And that is worth $95.2 million in 2021.
As her literary works continued to earn from selling rights for a different range of adaptations, currently her net worth is around $1.5 million.
| Net Worth | $1.5 million |
| Profession | Novelist |
| House | Lived in her own house |
