Photo Credit: hugovk
On the 118th anniversary of Agatha Christie’s birth (September 15) her grandson Mathew Prichard announced that he had unearthed 27 reels of tape onto which Agatha Christie dictated her autobiography.
The tapes had lain undiscovered in a storeroom at Greenway, Agatha Christie’s Devon mansion, for over forty years and Mr Prichard comments that they would probably still be there had he not decided to have a Spring clean. He also adds ‘The one thing you can always credit Agatha Christie with is an enduring capacity to surprise.’
In the tapes, Agatha can be heard comparing Miss Marple with her grandmother, whom she says always expected the worst of anyone and everything and was, ’with almost frightening accuracy, usually proved right.’ She also comments that a meeting between Miss Marple and Poirot would be out of the question ‘Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business by an elderly spinster.’
Many thanks to Jay Ashby for letting me know about the Agatha Christie tapes and for pointing me in the direction of the BBC radio 4 Today show where Mathew Prichard and Laura Thompson, author of Christie: An English Mystery, discuss the importance of the recordings. You can listen to the show which includes extracts from the tapes being played by clicking Here.
Please share this Murder Mystery Blog Post with others by adding it to your social bookmarks.
www.all-about-agatha-christie.com
A Free & Comprehensive Guide to The World of Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie Tapes
