Lyn Reviews Author Dame Agatha Christie’s Come, Tell Me How You Live
Last week I reviewed Veronica Heley’s British Mystery MURDER BY SUSPICION. Long before I read any other British mystery author, I was reading Agatha Christie. And I found that I was intrigued by the woman behind those stories and character such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. So I was interested when I came upon this book.
Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have long enjoyed Dame Agatha Christie’s cozy mysteries. Love Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. But now Dame Agatha has parted the veil for a peek into her life with her second husband, the archeologist.
In case you don’t know, Dame Agatha’s first husband turned out to be a mistake and after their divorce, she married Max Mallowan, a man 17 years her junior. But I believe he was her soulmate.
The most amazing part of this book is a glimpse into a world long gone! The book was begun in the mid-1930’s. It was a world before people in the mid-East had begun to have radios or any major contact with the outside world. Irag and Iran were colonial territories. Most of the action of this book takes place in Iraq and Syria near the border of Turkey.
Characters consist of Bedouins, Kurds, French colonial officials, Turks, Armenians, Yedzikis, and all in their native and almost untouched selves.
Today when all we hear from this area is slaughter and massacres and civil war, it is an eye-opener to read of people–Muslim, Christian, and Yedzidis who live peacefully (almost) side by side. And an English lady and scholar that enjoyed their differences, including interesting portrayals of different cultures and off the wall individuals.
It was before World War II, before oil wealth, before the birth of modern Israel and the modern conflict over that. The highest compliment I can pay a book is that I’ve already read it over twice!
Bravo, Dame Agatha!
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