Agatha Christie Letters Reveal Her 'Love-Hate' Relationship with Poirot

Personal letters by Agatha Christie that reveal her complex relationship with Hercule Poirot will go on display at a new exhibition at the British Library, marking the 50th anniversary of the author's death. The exhibition offers a fresh look at the life, interests and writing process of the creator of crime fiction's most famous detectives.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the letters that are going to be exhibited in a new exhibition reveal the love and hate relationship between Agatha Christie, the writer of crime stories, and her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

These letters, which are part of the collection of documents kept at Christie's, are on loan to the British Library for holding an exhibition on the 50th anniversary of this author's death.

The exhibition, which opens later this month, explores how Christie's personal life influenced his fictional characters and crime narratives.

Among the documents in the exhibition are letters that show that Christie found Poirot a boring character, but had to write stories about him to make ends meet.

The holding of this exhibition coincides with the announcement of another news by the BBC. This network has announced that Edward Blumel will play the role of 33-year-old Poirot in the "Hercule" series; A prequel to Christie's stories that deals with the detective's young life.

The letters of this author, which are kept in the collection of documents of the University of Exeter, have been selected from an archive containing about 6,000 documents and are on loan to the British Library for display.

In a letter he wrote in 1940, Christie talks about his feelings towards his Belgian detective; A character that made him a self-righteous but genius with a distinctive way of walking.

Exeter University archivist Annie Price says Christie described Poirot as an "intolerable" character and said she only continued to write his novels because Poirot was "her main source of income".

Still, Price says Christie sometimes changed her mind about the detective.

He explains: "In the other letters in the collection, it is clear how protective and protective Christie feels of Poirot. "He was the one character that Christie really didn't want to see on film, on TV or even on the radio."

Sophie DeFrance of the British Library also agrees that at some point Christie grew tired of his Belgian detective. "I think Christie had a love-hate relationship with Poirot," he says.

He adds: "The interesting thing about these letters, which are on loan from the University of Exeter, is that we can find out what Christie really thought about the adaptations being made of his works; His opinion about these adaptations was not always positive and admiring.

The British Library has also borrowed a letter in which Christie discusses the character of "Miss Marple" 20 years later, in 1960.

He described Miss Marple as one of his "favorite characters" and revealed that he was unhappy with a film company's decision to replace Poirot with the character in a story originally about the Belgian detective.

Carolyn Walter, Head of Heritage Collections at the University of Exeter, said the exhibition would provide an opportunity for those interested in Christie's work to gain access to some of the author's correspondence.

He says: "It's a wonderful opportunity to bring an archive that hasn't necessarily seen much public view outside of Exeter in recent years, to be seen by a wider audience; It's also an opportunity to show what an intrinsic and important place Christie's legacy is in South West England and how essential it is to crime literature."

The British Library announced that the purpose of this exhibition is to introduce "the human being behind the cultural phenomenon of Agatha Christie". This exhibition takes visitors on a journey through his life; From his childhood and growing up in Torquay, his interests and travels to how his works are continuously adapted for performance on stage and screen.

Lucy Rowland, chief curator of the exhibition, said: "This is the largest exhibition to be held in the UK to celebrate the works of Agatha Christie in almost 25 years."

The British Library has borrowed about 200 works and documents for this exhibition; Including personal items that have never been exhibited before. This series examines Christie's writing process and his influence on the crime fiction genre.

The National Trust, which maintains Agatha Christie's former cottage called Greenway in South Devon, has also provided the British Library with a number of objects and artefacts for display.

James Pritchard, the result of Agatha Christie and the executive director of Agatha Christie Limited, has participated in the exhibition in collaboration with the British Library.

"Holding such an exhibition seems like a fitting way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death," he said.