Agatha Christie's Oriental Adventures

Among the many influences on Agatha Christie's writing, we find her travels in the Orient and her passion for history and archeology. Smarting from the failure of her first marriage, the already famous author took the Orient Express to Baghdad, visited the ruins of Ur and eventually met future husband Max Mallowan, an archeologist. She regularly accompanied him to digs in various countries in the Near and Middle East, where she learned to clean, classify and photograph ancient artifacts. These adventurous journeys would in turn provide inspiration for several crime mysteries in exotic settings (or trains...). Christie emphasized the similarities of archeological and detective work: both are based on piecing together clues to shed light on past events. We take a closer look at this understated connection in the life of an extraordinary woman whose writings are entrenched in her travels and adventures. Level C1/C2