ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Agatha Christie Cure by Cathy Rentzenbrink
The Agatha Christie Cure by Cathy Rentzenbrink will be published by Canongate on 10th September. My thanks to the publishers for the proof copy.
One Christmas, Cathy Rentzenbrink finds herself drained by life’s upheavals. In need of comfort and escape, she turns to her first literary love: Agatha Christie.
As Cathy delves into Agatha’s novels and her mysterious disappearance in 1926, she discovers more than she expected. Beyond the hidden jewels, detectives and thrilling escapes on trains and automobiles, Cathy unearths an adventurer and innovator who hid – within the pages of her own books – the secrets of how she survived a personal crisis and started life again. With the Queen of Crime at her side, Cathy soon begins finding answers to questions she hadn’t even realised she was asking.
A literary detective story and a memoir of finding hope in reading, this journey into the heart of the most successful writer of the 20th century is the perfect tonic for anyone in search of life-affirming resilience, and proof that if ever you’re lonely, tired and in need of solace, getting in the bath with an Agatha Christie is always an excellent idea.
Unlike Jennie Godfrey, who is quoted on my proof copy of The Agatha Christie Cure as saying ‘Come for the greatest crime writer in history and stay for Cathy’s beautiful writing’, I actually came for Cathy’s writing, not being (shhh, don’t tell anyone) much of a Christie fan.
Rentzenbrink most definitely is a fan of Christie and at a time in her life when she was struggling with several things that threatened to overwhelm her, she decided to undertake a reread of the detective novels, including the very well-known ones like the Poirot and Miss Marple stories. I particularly enjoyed the sections about the author’s own life and her relatable trials and tribulations, which are interspersed with some fairly in-depth descriptions of the plots of Christie’s books and details of her life and how parallels can be found between what she was writing and what was going on behind the scenes.
I think this is a book that will appeal massively to Agatha Christie aficionados who share an obsession with her life and her books. For me, I just enjoyed the beauty and honesty of Rentzenbrink’s writing and observations over the duration of the project. She’s an author whose work I will always want to read.
Cathy Rentzenbrink is the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of The Last Act of Love, Dear Reader, How to Feel Better, Everyone is Still Alive and Ordinary Time. She is a renowned book reviewer and literary festival panellist and host. Prior to writing her own books, Cathy was a passionate bookseller at Waterstones, working in seven different branches before becoming Publisher Relations Manager for the group. After that she became Project Director at literacy charity Quick Reads, then Books Editor at the Bookseller. She runs the Curtis Brown memoir-writing course and the highly popular online ‘Sunday Sessions’.
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