Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie
I read my first graphic novel about two years ago, thanks in large part to the wonderful bookish community, Litsy. If you haven’t joined, please check it out in your app store. Litsy people are all book people, and book people are the best people.
This book, written by Anne Martinetti and Guillaume Lebeau, beautifully illustrated by Alexandre Franc, and translated by Edward Gauvin, was a present from a lovely Litten as part of an Agatha Christie themed gift exchange. It is a graphic biography of the Queen of Mystery.
I gave this three stars on Goodreads, as I felt it was good, but not great. As noted earlier, the images are wonderful. I really liked the artwork. The story, however, leaves a bit to be desired. I didn’t realize until I sat down to compose this review that it’s a translation from French. I wonder if that is where the problem lies. The text is choppy and in many places it lacks transition from one scene to the next. These abrupt changes are disorienting. The scenes where Christie engages in conversation with her characters were fun. I did not know that she had such conflicted feelings towards her most famous detective, and those conversations were interesting.
TL;DR For a short, quick summary of the major events of Agatha’s life, I absolutely recommend this. I enjoyed the format, even as I wished for a little more substance.
Tails from the Dog-side 