Agatha Christie

An Elusive Woman

By: Lucy Worsley

Narrated by: Lucy Worsley

"Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was."

Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was "just" an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? Her life is fascinating for its mysteries and its passions and, as Lucy Worsley says, "She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern." She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness.

So why—despite all the evidence to the contrary—did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?

She was born in 1890 into a world that had its own rules about what women could and couldn't do. Lucy Worsley's biography is not just of a massively, internationally successful writer. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman.

With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley's biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realize what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was—truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.

©2022 Lucy Worsley (P)2022 Tantor

An intriguing and complete biography

I love Lucy Worsley, and I love Agatha Christie! I learned so much about the author, yet it felt like a conversation with a friend and not a lecture. Well done!

Lucy Worsley is my idol!

Just like everything else Lucy does this was great!! I loved her narration (I have no idea what the bad reviews are talking about??), and the story she puts together is great! I'm not even a big Agatha Christie fan and Lucy has now convinced me to try Agatha again! Great audio book. Lucy Worsley has yet to let me down! Catch her on her BBC specials too most of the air on PBS!

A delightful read

Worsley is a charming and enthusiastic reader. The backstory of one of the most prolific writers is quite interesting. Perhaps a little less on her tax troubles, but overall well worth the listen.

Interesting and insightful

This book provided such an in-depth portrait of the author. Loved it and loved Lucy Worsley’s enthusiasm for her subject.

Wonderful reexamination of a talented woman

As always Lucy Worsley delivers an excellent, well researched, eminently readable/ listenable and engaging biography. Her reading of the book made it all the more enjoyable.