London Literary Walks #2
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Last {tuesday travels}, I described how I stumbled upon the home of George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf, whilst traipsing around London in July. Today, we continue our literary journey through London, but this time go a few miles southwest of Fitzroy Square and amble into the mysterious realm of the Holland Park area.
As Ali mentioned on Gimme Some Life, a group of our friends visited England over the holidays to attend a wedding. On Sarah and I’s final day in London, we went on a blue plaque search for a few of our favourite authors and artists, near the Kensington area, where we were staying. (Our hotel was right next to the home of Alfred Hitchock!)
our literary mission
One of our targets was a particular house on Sheffield Terrace. En route, we popped into a delightful antique bookshop, where I was able to purchase a photo prop for our next stop: the home of Dame Agatha Christie.
The blue plaque reads:
DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE 1890-1976 Detective novelist and playwright lived here 1934-1941.
As soon as we turned down the street where she lived (well, actually, it was after we turned, and as soon as I sated my obsession with lions, by taking the photo of the 1898 brick building [above]), I spotted this mailbox and thought: I bet Agatha posted her mail here.
who doesn’t love a good British mystery?
I have long been an avid fan of British mysteries — novels, tv shows, and films. Last year I suddenly became obsessed with watching every Poirot and Miss Marple movie on Netflix Streaming. (This may have been instigated by the fact that I discovered Benedict Cumberbatch was in one of the Marple episodes…) I started to see signs of Agatha everywhere; even in Sweden and Estonia, all the bookshops seemed to have shelves stacked full of Christie mysteries.
bookshelf confessional
Okay…I need to come clean. I have not [yet] read an Agatha Christie book. Not one. How have I been so remiss?? My sad neglect ends this year. I am adding my newly acquired Seven Dials Mystery to my Reading List for 2013. But I’m open to further suggestions (and well-deserved chastisement).
what is your favourite Agatha Christie book?
which book would you recommend as a good introduction to Christie?
» Don’t miss previous {tuesday travels}: London Literary Walks #1, Hobbiton, Those Who Wander, An Introduction.
Love this! And sadly, I’ve never read an Agatha Christie novel either. Maybe that would be a fun summer book club idea!
definitely!
You NEED to read And Then There Were None. That was my favorite of my hometown library’s collection of Christie. That’s how I spent my summers pre-internet-movie-streaming. All Christie, all the time.
is that the one you said sometimes goes by a different name?