When I was a teen my favorite books were mysteries and the stories of Agatha Christie were among the best in my estimation. It’s been a long while since I have read any of her stories but a visit to a Barnes and Noble bookstore just before Christmas changed all of that for me. That’s when I wandered over to a display of lovely classics with delightful covers. As I almost squealed with delight at the sight of some of my all time favorite authors and titles my husband snapped away with his camera.
I thought that perhaps he just got a kick out of my enthusiasm and wanted to keep a visual record of my childlike excitement. Lo and behold on Christmas Day I opened book after lovely book that for which he had recorded my joy. Among them was a volume of Hercule Poirot mysteries. I already knew the stories so well so very well. They entertained me once again not with an intent to solve a case before reaching the ending, but because of the delightful prose of Agatha Christie.
I had forgotten how truly lovely Ms. Christie’s descriptions are. The pages literally came alive with characters that seemed to be in the same room with me because her words were so vivid. I had become of fan of Agatha Christie mysteries on television and in films but not even the best acting and cinematography can compare to her ability to create a situation so lifelike that it feels as though I am peering over her shoulder.
I realized why I had been such a fan of her writing as I read story after story. It took me back to a time in the mid nineteen sixties when I was a skinny young girl filled with dreams. Reading was my favorite pastime then and it still is today. Luckily I found incredible writers to introduce me to worlds and ideas that I would not have otherwise known.
It was only later that I learned about Agatha Christie’s most unlikely and extraordinary life. She herself was the subject of mystery when she disappeared for a time without notice and had the world looking for her. She was one of the most popular authors of her time, vying Arthur Conan Doyle for fans. A play based on one of her stories, The Mousetrap, is the longest running theater production on London’s West end.
I found my reintroduction to Agatha Christie to not only be delightful but also to be a kind of lure back to London and the English countryside. If I were better at choosing words like Ms. Christie I might be able to explain my love affair with that country. Perhaps the secret is locked somewhere in my DNA because fifty percent of who I am was made up of people whose ancestors came form that locale. In fact, in spite of my Texas drawl I have more than once had people insist that I look very much like people that they have known from England.
I fell in love with London when I visited in 2017 and I have spent the last eight years fantasizing a return visit that would allow me to see all of the things that I missed on my first journey there like hearing Big Ben chime and attending a play or musical. I’d also like to take a train to the north and perhaps spend some time in Scotland. Then I would chunnel over to France and spend some time in Paris. From there maybe I would make my way to Rome.
I’m not getting any younger and if I don’t go on such excursions now I might miss my chance. Agatha Christie was an inveterate traveller to exotic places where her characters had such grand adventures. I long to be like them especially after following the journeys of a friend who has spent the last few years visiting every place on earth that she has ever wanted to see. Her travelogues are fascinating and in them she urges all of us to get up and get out into a world which is waiting for us.
I don’t know if it will be possible for me to fulfill my wish but I know it won’t happen if I only dream about it or read about it. Those books I received have ignited a torch inside my soul that keeps telling me it’s time to go. isn’t it funny how books have the ability to pull us out of our ruts and into other worlds?
I’ve got an itch to enjoy other cultures, maybe even Poirot’s Belgium. I’d like to find out if I might be able to reserve a trip on the Orient Express. It all sounds so deliciously fun. Who knows, if I go I might even stumble onto a mystery.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 