Welcome to 2023! On Mondays this year, let’s discuss and have fun with books. No I’m not writing book reviews. But this website is for writers, and writers like books right? So let’s have FUN with books!
Week 7 - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Originally published as Ten Little [N***ers] in 1939, the title was changed to Ten Little Indians in the UK and And Then There Were None in the US.
The world’s best-selling mystery of all time and the sixth best-selling title of all time, with over 100 million copies sold.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None
Eight people are summoned by personal invitation to a small, isolated island off the coast of Devon England. The butler and cook/housekeeper explain that their hosts have not yet arrived, though they have left instructions.
A framed copy of an old rhyme, Ten Little Indians, hangs in every guest's room, and on the dining room table sit ten figurines. After dinner, a record is played, accusing each visitor, the butler, and the housekeeper of having committed murder.
Then, following the lines of the rhyme, the guests are killed one by one until none remain. When Scotland Yard arrives, they find 10 bodies and attempt to piece together what happened, without success. Then a bottle washes up with the confession of the killer.
The novel has been translated into multiple languages and adapted into stage plays, films, radio, television, and others. In 1943, during World War II, Christie herself changed the bleak ending to a more positive one for theater audiences.
https://www.agathachristie.com/film-and-tv/and-then-there-were-none/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-and-then-there-were-none
The offensive history
https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/rethinking-agatha-christie/
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, Devon, England, the youngest of three children.
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The island setting in And Then There Were None, off the coast of Devon, is based on Burgh Island
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/burgh-island
Except for the transport vehicle, this totally looks like how I pictured the scene in And Then There Were None! What do you think?
This was my favourite Agatha Christie book back when I read them all. I must try and find it again... I wonder if I'll remember whodunnit.
ReplyDeleteIt was one of my favorites too. I hope you don't remember whodunnit until you find it and read it again!
ReplyDelete