Agatha Christie cover art

Agatha Christie

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Agatha Christie

By: Lucy Worsley
Narrated by: Lucy Worsley
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

'A smart and highly entertaining portrait of a literary powerhouse'
- THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR

'A riveting portrait'
- GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR

***
'Worsley's sparkling biography brings a fresh eye to Christie's life and work, firmly busting the myth that she, or her novels, were cosy.' Daily Mail

'Every Christie fan should read this' - The Times

'Shows the Queen of Crime in a new light.' - Daily Telegraph

'Worsley's book excels in bringing a broader historical perspective to Christie's life and work, and her enthusiasm is infectious.' - Observer

***

'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? 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 which had its own rules about what women could and couldn't do. Lucy Worsley's biography is not just of an internationally renowned bestselling 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 realise what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was - truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.©2022 Lucy Worsley (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Art & Literature Authors Literary History & Criticism Women Thought-Provoking
activate_mytile_page_redirect_t1

What listeners say about Agatha Christie

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    58
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    55
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    52
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Insightful, revealing biography with Lucy's trademark enthralling narration!

Thorough, insightful and balanced description and review of Christie's life and her works. Lucy Worsley brings to vivid life the worlds of her subjects in ways that few other manage to do. This work enhanced my understanding of Christie as a writer and a woman and the complexity of her works across the decades. I highly recommend this book to others!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful story

Thank you, Lucy Worsley, for bringing Agatha Christie to life in such a wonderful way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable and thoughtful

I recommend this thoughtful audiobook, read by the author, to all Agatha Christie fans. It gives some insight into the person Agatha was and the world she lived in. It gives credit to her amazing and unrivaled contribution to detective writing and explains where many of the ideas in her stories originated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great contextual overview

The personality of Christie comes through really well, for her brilliance, prejudices and flaws. As a great historical biography does, we see Agatha’s actions in the the contemporary context we do often fail to note in the age of twitter and social media. A conservative woman indeed, but also one that normalised the age of the female crime writer as one capable of complex, twisting plots and curious characters. Her works can stand the test of time with little modification and continue to entertain and sell widely. Great storytelling by Lucy Worsely. Perhaps a little long and the early chapters feel somewhat bland. But I understood Christie so much better now, alongside the little understood issue of mental health which I believe describes her famous disappearance. Well worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

engaged me all the way

style of writing and delivery had me happily listening all the way through, just like all documentaries by this my favourite of all historians!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and entertaining

What a fascinating life! Lucy Worsley brings together what feels like a thorough telling. And she’s an absolute joy to listen to. Really enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narration Spot On

I love Lucy’s narration. She’s has an engaging way of speaking and you get to hear the emphasis she intended in her writing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hooray for Lucy

Lucy captures Agatha Christies life beautifully. An amazing life and women and had me captivated from start to finish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect

Didn’t want to stop listening even when people were calling me i tried to ignoring or fob them off so I could continue to listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning read

Lucy your research and extensive deep delve into Agatha’s life and times was a joy right from the start
Thankyou
From Julie in Oz

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.