This book gave interesting background on how Christie created ideas for her books and stories!What surprised me was that I'd never noticed the similarities between the different books. John Curran points out these and then it is quite obvious, but I've not seen this before.It was also sad what was written about Christie's last two books, that they weren't very good. Maybe so. These notes were obviously at the end of the book so the whole book closed on a downward note. Not to read in one fat sitting, but to delve in and out of, especially after reading a Christie or viewing an adaptation on television. Here's the background to her plots, some of her discarded ideas, name changes or swaps of devices that turned up in other books. Very interesting as a study of the creative process, but definitely weak as a narrative arc—too patchy and requiring a familiarity with the canon to be read as a straight non-fiction book.
What do You think about Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks (2009)?
rambles a lot but good insight into one of my favorite authors
—Sarah
An insight into the habits and workings of a writer's mind.
—kstabs