Agatha Christie in publication order #8 : The Big Four

First published: 1927. Christie's eighth book, seventh novel, and fifth outing for Poirot.

Title: Moderately intriguing, I suppose. Who or what are the Big Four?

Agatha wasn't having a happy time during the writing and publication of this - reeling from both the death of her mother and the breakdown of her marriage due to her husband's infidelity. The book itself came out just a few weeks after her famous disappearance. 

I've been putting off reading it for a while, because I don't have especially fond memories of it (actually I barely have any memories of it apart from it being a drag to get through) and I'm really not keen on this particular species of Christie (even though it does in this case have Poirot in it, which is a minor saving grace). It's another one where there's a shadowy figure (or four, in this case) of extraordinary power behind all manner of world unrest, revolutions, etc. (Lenin and Trotsky, for instance, are "mere puppets whose every action was dictated by another's brain".) 

"Oh come," [protests Hastings], "isn't that a bit far-fetched?"

For once, I'm with the Captain on this one.

Anyway, Hastings is back from South America after eighteen months to carry out some unspecified business, and looks up his old friend Poirot. (His wife is left behind in Argentina for several months, so I'm not sure how she feels about that.) Following a rapturous welcome from Poirot, the two old friends are almost immediately caught up in danger and adventure, with the number four continually popping up right, left and centre.

It does feature Hastings briefly going undercover in the household of an American millionaire, which is fun. Ryland’s household includes a valet called Deaves with an “irreproachable manner”, surely a nod to the ineffable PG Wodehouse, whose similarly irreproachably-mannered and similarly-named Jeeves had been appearing in short stories for a number of years at this point. 

Oh, and Poirot is dead at one point. He has a funeral and everything.

Poirot-isms 

"But for my quick eyes, the eyes of a cat, Hercule Poirot might now be crushed out of existence - a terrible calamity for the world. And you too, mon ami - though that would not be such a national catastrophe."

"We are dealing with the second greatest brain in the world." [No need to ask who the first greatest is, of course.]

Americans with Silly Names Watch: "Richest man in the world" Abe Ryland is known as the American Soap King, but his actual name isn't particularly silly.

Acceptable in the 20s? The less said about the representation of Chinese people here, the better. Hastings’ comment that he can’t tell one “Chinaman” from another is in fact one of the less offensive stereotypes here, which probably tells you everything you need to know.

Hastings has some unreconstructed views on women scientists:

"It has always seemed to me so extraordinary that a woman should go so far in the scientific world. I should have thought a purely masculine brain was needed for such work."

But as the woman in question is described by Poirot and others as an incredible genius, it’s clear the Captain is in the minority here and his views on this, at least, probably don’t reflect the author’s.

Final verdict

Slightly more enjoyable than I expected, after detesting The Secret of Chimneys so much. It feels more like a Tommy and Tuppence than a Poirot, but he’s probably its saving grace.

Next up: The Mystery of the Blue Train

Book review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Cover yet to come!

A new Sally Hepworth novel has to rocket straight to the top of my reading list – she’s a great storyteller.

Eighty-one year old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick lives a quietish life on Kenny Lane, but what her neighbours don’t generally know is that Elsie was once the notorious Mabel Waller – the youngest person in Australia ever to be imprisoned for murder. Dubbed “Mad Mabel” from an early age, bodies piled up around her throughout her childhood.

From the outset, when Elsie/Mabel tells us she’s always liked to think she was special, because elderly women and little girls aren’t expected to commit murder, we’re led down a path of thinking she’s a bit of a monster. She’s certainly not particularly nice to her neighbours, including a little girl determined to befriend her. Only her old friend, Daphne, sees a different side of her.

However, Mabel’s real story, once it gradually unfolds – in past and in present – is a bit different from the one the public has grown up with. From a friendless child to a lonely teenager and beyond, is Mabel really the villain of her story?

There are some great characters here – as well as Mabel herself there’s persistent young Persephone and her mum Roxanne, Aldi-obsessed neighbour Peter (“Pete the Greek”), and in the past, the magnificent Cess and Ness (Cecily and Vanessa).

I was left with a few unanswered questions, mainly around Mabel’s father, but that’s okay.

The ending is both shocking and moving.

Mad Mabel was an absolutely cracking read which I can highly recommend. My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough! Thanks for the opportunity to read and review.

Book review: Fallout by Eleanor Anstruther

This was a blast from the past. I've actually been to Greenham - a few years later than Bridget and co (I'm a little younger), but still. A lot of this rang true, though I wasn't there for long.

Fifteen-year-old Bridget - no friends, deeply uncomfortable in her own body, feeling strongly that nobody at home understands her - finds a new world opening up when she forges a parental note to accompany her teacher and others to Greenham. A dirty, muddy, often dangerous new world, granted, but one she takes to with alacrity.

After all, what's home got to offer? Her father Ray, busy building a fallout shelter in the downstairs loo, regards the Greenham women with contempt. Her dinner lady mother Janet, beset by domestic duties, is viewed by her daughter as boring and stupid. Little brother Paul is just there.

Bridget's actions, though, will detonate a bomb under her family life, bringing secrets into the open and changing lives irrevocably.

The narrative follows not only Bridget's story, but those of several other women who spend time at the camp. None of these characters are really there because of the missiles, which is not to say they don't care. Bridget is seeking independence and identity, community and belonging. Art teacher Annabel is seeking a lover. Middle-class mother of five Kate, wanting a safe world for her children to grow up in, is perhaps most driven by the cause, but is also seeking a life beyond domesticity. Janet - well, Janet is first seeking her daughter, and later exploring her own horizons.

While Ray's story is a sad one and should certainly provoke our sympathy, I'm not entirely sure it belongs here (and the ending is perhaps a little too rose-tinted).

A great read, which will resonate with those who lived through the era and inform those who didn't.