In Poirot, Christie wanted to create her own Sherlock Holmes-type detective. Combining her love of mysteries with her newfound knowledge of poison, and drawing inspiration from Belgian refugees living in Torquay and the Belgian soldiers she helped to treat while working as a volunteer nurse, led to the birth of Hercule Poirot and his first mystery in 1916. She worked in the dispensaries, which provided her with time to familiarize herself with various medicines and poisons.Ĭhristie was a big fan of detective novels, such as The Woman in White and the works of Sherlock Holmes.
While her (first) husband, Archie, was off in France fighting, Christie signed on as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. Then came the First (there’s that word again) World War. She wrote short stories and novels but was unsuccessful at finding a publisher, receiving several rejections. When she was eighteen, she began writing. It was this insatiable curiosity that later served her well when it came to writing mysteries. Her mother insisted she be homeschooled, despite her brother and sister attending boarding school, so Christie learned a lot of what she knew on her own, including how to read at the age of four. She was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller to a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon in 1890, and was the youngest of the Miller’s three children. Let’s look back at where it all started…Īgatha Christie, by her own account, had a happy childhood. So since she is such a beloved, prolific author, it is fascinating to do a deep dive into the beginning of Christie’s career: The first book in the Hercule Poirot series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Her books have sold more copies than any others except the works of Shakespeare and the Bible. There have been over two billion copies of Agatha Christie books printed in over 100 languages. She’s one of the world’s most successful writers in history. A first painting, a first song, a first book: these are all cultivated from our brains, which have been informed by our interests and surroundings. It is who we are that influences what we create.
The opposite, however, can be said about art. These experiences in our childhood and formative years are important, because they help shape our interests, and ultimately, who we become. And as we grow, it doesn’t stop, continuing through our teens into our adult years. In our culture, there is a lot of importance placed on “firsts.” From the moment you draw your first (yep) breath, your life is measured in firsts: your first smile, your first word, your first toy, your first day of school.
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