Agatha Christie was the author of over eighty novels and over a dozen plays, including The Mousetrap, the longest continuously running play in theatrical history. Her books have been translated into more languages than the works of Shakespeare. Though well travelled, and the owner of several houses, her favourite by far was Greenway on the Dart estuary in Devon.
She was born nearby, knew it as a child, bought it in 1938 and spent her summers there till she died in 1976. It was, she wrote 'the loveliest house in the world! the ideal house! a dream house.' Now owned and preserved by the National Trust, the house will open to the public for the first time in 2009. Location plays a crucial part in Christie's work, and she often relied on real settings around her native Devon.
Greenway itself makes a thinly disguised appearance in at least two of her novels. This book will explore and illustrate the significance of Devon in her work and of Greenway in particular - its magnificent gardens, its beautiful setting on the estuary, and her relationship with its servants and staff - another favourite Christie motif. Illustrated with rarely-seen archive images and evocative photographs of Greenway and the surrounding countryside, Agatha Christie at Home provides an insight into the life and work of a much-loved author.
