SEARCHING FOR THE REAL AGATHA CHRISTIE
Paul Gessell visits a Montreal exhibition on one of the world’s most successful writers. Her work has sold more than 2 billion copies, a figure surpassed only by the Bible and the Shakespeare’s works. We’re speaking of the Queen of Crime, the late Dame Ag
Montreal exhibition sheds light on prolific English writer
QWhere is the exhibition?
AThe show, called Investigating Agatha Christie, is a twohour drive from Ottawa, at the Pointe-à-Callière, the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History. The 201516 exhibition simultaneously marks the 125th anniversary of Christie’s birth Sept. 15, 1890, at Torquay, in the Devon district of England, and the 40th anniversary of her death in 1976 at her home in Wallingford, near Oxford.
Q Why is the exhibition in an archeology museum?
AChristie was an amateur archaeologist. Her second husband, Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan, was a renowned British archaeologist in the first half of the 20th century. Agatha accompanied him on many of his excavations in the Middle East, primarily in Syria and Iraq, during the 1930s, cleaning, cataloguing and photographing artifacts.
QDid archeology influence Christie’s detective novels?
AYes, several of her stories had archaeological sub-plots. They include Murder in Mesopotamia, They Came to Baghdad, Appointment With Death and Death Comes as the End. She described her archaeological exploits with Max in a playful memoir, Come, Tell Me How You Live. Christie always said archaeologists and detectives have much in common: both must discover clues to piece together an event of the recent or distant past.
QWhat do you see first in the exhibition?
AA “garden of poisons,” in which bottles labelled with such names as “arsenic” and “thallium” are attached to plant stalks growing in a stylized garden. Poison was among Christie’s favourite methods of killing off characters — 30 of them died this way. Her interest in poisons predates her writing. As a volunteer nurse in the First World War in her hometown of Torquay, Christie learned all about dispensing drugs, eventually earning a certificate as an assistant apothecary.
QWhat personal artifacts are in the exhibition?
AThere are many photos, letters and household objects from her childhood in a Victorian mansion called Ashfield. We see many first editions of her books and the background stories as to how they were published. In the final gallery of the exhibition, we see examples of her clothes, including a cream-coloured mink stole, a blue china tea set and furnishings from her houses. (At one time she owned eight houses simultaneously.) The very last artifact we see is her 1937 Remington portable typewriter used to write many of her novels. For diehard Christie fans, this is surely is the crown jewel of the exhibition.
QWhat about the Orient Express?
AChristie fell in love with this luxury train in 1928 when she first travelled on it from Calais, France, to Istanbul, Turkey, and then on to Syria to visit friends involved in archeology. Through them, she met Max, having recently divorced her twotiming first husband Archie Christie. A re-creation of an Orient Express dining car is included in the exhibition, along with many artifacts, including china and cutlery from the famous train. One of Christie’s most celebrated novels, Murder on the Orient Express, was turned into a movie. Excerpts of it are shown.
QAre there archeological artifacts?
AYes, many of them from the British Museum and Royal Ontario Museum. There are carvings, jewelry, cylindrical containers and other bric-a-brac. Some of these artifacts were discovered by Christie’s husband and were cleaned and handled by Agatha herself. One such artifact is an alabaster carving of the head of a deity from 3300 BC to 3000 BC, found in Tell Brak in Syria. The carving is only about five inches (12.7 centimetres) high but conveys a special power. Check out the eyes. They are unforgettable. A photograph of the head taken by Christie was published May 20, 1939, in the Illustrated London News.
QWhat is the tragedy of Nimrud?
AIn 1948, Max and Agatha excavated his ancient site in Iraq, discovering immense stone sculptures and delicate ivory carvings. Max literally wrote the book on the site. It is called Nimrud and its Remains. In 2015, Islamic State (ISIL) terrorists destroyed this World Heritage site, blowing up huge carvings and the remains of buildings. Now Nimrud only lives on in the artifacts carried off to museums by people such as Max and Agatha.
QSo, how do I find the Pointe-à-Callière museum?
AIt is located at 350 Place Royale, Old Montreal, right by the waterfront. There are lots of great shops and restaurants nearby. The closest Metro stop is Place-d’Armes. For information on costs and hours, visit pacmusee.qc.ca.