packed a bag with clothes and drove off one night. The next day her car was found off a road, crashed into a tree. Her clothes were still in the car but there was no trace of the already famous crime novelist. Over the week or so, England conducted the largest man hunt to date - sending out volunteers to scour the countryside, tramp through brush, and trolling lakes and ponds - trying to find the author. She was discovered after eleven days in an exclusive health spa in Harrogate registered under the surname of her husband's lover. Hotel employees and guests described her as energetic and witty, playing piano in the ballroom, shopping daily for new clothes, and making no attempts to hide herself in anyway. She, along with everyone else, followed the newspaper reports of the disappearance with interest.
The official statement after her husband came to bring her home, was that she was suffering from amnesia and that during the time of her stay in Harrogate she had no idea who she truly was. She had even gone so far as to leave a small ad in the personal column of "The Times" which read: "Friends and relatives of Tereesa Neele, late of South Africa, please communicate - Write Box R 702 The Times, E.C. 4." Two years after this event, Agatha Christie gave her husband a divorce.
I love this story, because it tells me a lot about the writer and at the same time tells me very little. In any subsequent interviews which the author gave (and there were few of those to begin with) she always refused to mention anything concerning her disappearance. Her autobiography completely omits the eleven day disappearance.
In spite of the fact that she turned her country upside-down for a little over a week, there is something I admire in what she did, something that sets her apart from the Audrey Seilers and Jennifer Wilbankses. With Christie, it seems more calculated and less careless - like there was something deeper at stake for her personally.
There must be something very appealing in the idea of simply leaving your life for a time and watching from the sidelines. It's a completely irresponsible, foolish thing to do, and yet i think I understand the impulse to do it as well as the wish never to speak of it again.
7 comments:
Wow, very very interesting...Thanks for sharing that story.
Troy
Yeah, I was feeling this two weeks ago. I think I even made a point to hide my car keys, because I knew if I got into the car I wouldn't be able to stop. But all is well in the world now.
Matty - Don't you get up and go anywhere! I may have secured the desk next to me for you! I used my womanly charms to attempt to sway my boss! I used the "I'd really like to mentor him" ploy...it worked! He's seeeing what he can do about it. Yes it's true - I'll be your writer-monkey-mentor! See ya Monday - call me before then! Can I use another exclamation point?!!!!!!!!!!
Man, I hate this spam shit.
hi,
over and above getting back at her husband, it must have been immensely difficult for a woman who had turned down many eligible young men,n been quite a beauty(iknow,her jacket photos dont do her justice,but she was quite somethin in her youth) to digest the fact that she has now become 'obsolete' so to speak.
hurt pride also could have been a big factor.
read her 'an autobiography'. illuminating,engaging,fun.
hmmm.. you've put that very well.. yes, the 'disappearing act' does say a lot about her..
knowing human nature as she does, i guess we can trust her to pull something like that and getaway with it... :)
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