THE GRAND TOUR: Letters and photographs from the British Empire Expedition 1922 by Agatha Christie,N 

基本信息

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins; UK ed. edition (12 Sept. 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9780007460687

ISBN-13: 978-0007460687

ASIN: 0007460686

Product Dimensions: 153 x 197 x 28mm | 480g

書籍簡介

Unpublished for 90 years, Agatha Christie’s extensive and evocative letters and photographs from her year-long round-the-world trip to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and America as part of the British trade mission for the famous 1924 Empire Exhibition.

In 1922 Agatha Christie set sail on a 10-month voyage around the British Empire with her husband as part of a trade mission to promote the forthcoming British Empire Exhibition. Leaving her two-year-old daughter behind with her sister, Agatha set sail at the end of January and did not return until December, but she kept up a detailed weekly correspondence with her mother, describing in detail the exotic places and people she encountered as the mission travelled through South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Canada.

The extensive and previously unpublished letters are accompanied by hundreds of photos taken on her portable camera as well as some of the original letters, postcards, newspaper cuttings and memorabilia collected by Agatha on her trip.

Edited and introduced by Agatha Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard, this unique travelogue reveals a new side to Agatha Christie, demonstrating how her appetite for exotic plots and locations for her books began with this eye-opening trip, which took place just after only her second novel had been published (the first leg of the tour to South Africa is very clearly the inspiration for the book she wrote immediately afterwards, The Man in the Brown Suit). The letters are full of tales of seasickness and sunburn, motor trips and surf boarding, and encounters with welcoming locals and overbearing Colonials.

The Grand Tour is a book steeped in history, sure to fascinate anyone interested in the lost world of the 1920s. Coming from the pen of Britain’s biggest literary export and the world’s most widely translated author, it is also a fitting tribute to Agatha Christie and is sure to fascinate her legions of worldwide fans.

作者簡介

阿加莎·克里斯蒂（Agatha Christie，1890年9月15日—1976年1月12日），英國女偵探小説家、劇作家，三大推理文學宗師之一。代表作品有《東方快車謀殺案》和《尼羅河謀殺案》等。

1890年，阿加莎·克里斯蒂生於英國德文郡托爾奎，原名阿加莎·瑪麗·克拉麗莎·米勒（Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller）。阿加莎·克里斯蒂16歲時到巴黎學習聲樂，但文學的愛好使她最終放棄了走歌唱家的道路。1914年，第一次世界大戰期間，她參加了英國和紅十字志願隊，從事救護工作。1920年發表《斯泰爾斯莊園奇案》，該書第一次出現了偵探波洛這個人物形象。1930年，阿加莎在《牧師家的謀殺案》中起用新的偵探形象，來自英國鄉村的女偵探瑪普爾小姐。1947年，為慶祝英女王85歲生日，阿加莎創作三幕驚險劇《捕鼠器》，該劇在英國舞台連演幾十年不衰，成為英國戲劇史上上演時間最長的一部作品。1956年，她榮獲“不列顛帝國勛章”和埃克塞特大學名譽文學博士學位，1971年，她又榮獲女爵士封號。她因創作偵探小説的成就，被吸收為英國皇家文學會的會員，後被英國女王授予”偵探女王”的桂冠。1975年，阿加莎·克里斯蒂寫下她最後的一部小説《幕》。1976年1月12日，她在英國沃林福特去世，享年85歲。

據吉尼斯世界紀錄統計，阿加莎·克里斯蒂是人類*暢銷的著書作家。而將所有形式的著作算入，只有聖經與威廉·莎士比亞的著作的總銷售量在她之上。其著作曾翻譯成超過103種語言，總銷突破20億本。