The Science of Agatha Christie by Meg Hafdahl

Author:Meg Hafdahl
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510773493
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

They Do It with Mirrors

At the start of They Do It with Mirrors (1952), Miss Marple meets with her longtime friend, Ruth Van Rydock. The reader is immediately met with Ruth’s vivid physical description.

She was exquisitely corseted. Her still shapely legs were encased in fine nylon stockings. Her face, beneath a layer of cosmetics and constantly toned up by massage, appeared almost girlish at a slight distance. Her hair was less grey than tending to hydrangea blue and was perfectly set. It was practically impossible when looking at Mrs. Van Rydock to imagine what she would be like in a natural state.1

As both Ruth and Jane Marple gaze into a mirror, Ruth asks, “Do you think most people would guess, Jane, that you and I are practically the same age?”2 While we would roll our eyes at such pomposity, kind and white-haired Miss Marple reassures her friend that no one would ever guess!

This struck a chord, because in the last book we researched, A Murder Is Announced, there were quite a few mentions of aging. For instance, “All old women look alike.”3 Therefore, elderly Miss Blacklock was able to pretend to be her sister under no suspicion. This notion seems to be in stark disagreement to the physical differences of Ruth and Miss Marple, yet Ruth is quick to point out, “They know I’m an old hag all right! And, my God, do I feel like one!”4 These meditations on aging, from the mouths of fictional characters, made us wonder if Christie was describing her own frustrations about becoming an older woman.

Agatha Christie turned sixty-two years old the year They Do It with Mirrors was published. She was a grandmother and had established her throne as the Queen of Crime. Rich, successful, and well-loved by fans and family, Christie had what everyone might hope for. But she had been raised in an affluent society that valued physical looks, especially women’s:

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