Greenways, her Devon holiday home on the Dart estuary, now in the care of the National Trust, attracts pilgrims in their thousands and she will feature on the new £2 coin released later this year. The Golden Age of detective fiction produced dozens of distinguished alumni, but only Christie remains a household name. What’s her secret?
Part of the answer can be found on Amazon. Her contemporaries seem frozen in aspic, but you only have to type Christie’s name into the search bar to see how adaptable she has proved. Over the years, her novels have been successfully reissued with covers that nod to the design cues of almost every genre, from Hitchcockian thriller to modern Scandi noir.
On the screen, it’s the same story. David Suchet’s Poirot may be the gold standard, but Christie’s influence stretches far beyond straight-up period pieces—last year saw rave reviews for Knives Out, a 21st-century love letter to her starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, an eccentric Louisiana detective. Director Rian Johnson (of ‘Star Wars’ fame), who discovered Christie as a little boy on his grandparents’ bookshelves, has gone out of his way to praise her ‘modern sensibility’.
Denne historien er fra May 13, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 13, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery