The Mystery of Mrs. Christie Quotes

“... it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Perhaps this was mankind’s fate—to learn that none of our paths were as straight as we believed they would be.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“But I promise myself—and them—now that I have authored an authentic self into existence, I will write a perfect ending.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“How do you want this story to end? It seems to me that there are two paths from which you can choose, the first involving a softer landing than the second, though neither are without bumps and bruises, of course. These small injuries are simply a necessary consequence of this entire exercise, as I'm sure you must understand by now. Or have I overestimated you and you haven't guessed? No matter. My goal - which you will undoubtedly find utterly unacceptable - will be met regardless of your awareness. Freeing myself of the shackles of your judgement and your malfeasance will be a delightful result of your duplicity, a result you never intended. Because you only ever intended to serve your own needs and satisfy your own desires. I was never in the forefront of your mind, not even in the early days, even as I was told that you should always be at the forefront of mine.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Over the years, my memories of that trip - our hikes along paths lined with pine trees and vivid sprigs of wildflowers and the sound of my parents' laughter echoing through the forest as they strolled hand in hand - had not faded.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Theseus clutching at Ariadne’s red thread through King Minos’s deadly labyrinth.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“molded myself into—what you told me was ideal, anyway—wasn’t good enough. Imagine my astonishment when, even though I’d shed every real part of myself and transformed into your perfect woman—except the weight you tortured me about shedding, as I couldn’t—I was still intolerable to you. Then imagine the deadly shock you delivered when you informed me that, in fact, there was an idyllic companion for you out there, and it wasn’t me but a younger, prettier, meeker, more ‘appropriate’ woman named Nancy Neele. “So you see, you murdered that pure Agatha, just as many people out there believed that you murdered the physical Agatha. Your affair was just the final blow in a murder that took place over a long, long time.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“because it was the necessary consequence of your murder of me. This must sound confusing to you, because here I sit across from you, alive and in person. But the murder of which I speak is the murder of my authentic self—that vivacious, creative spirit you first met at Ugbrooke House all those years ago. You killed her bit by bit, over days and weeks and months and years of tiny injuries, until she’d grown so small and weak as to almost vanish.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“In truth, the only time I felt like myself was when I was writing.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Mummy’s marital advice ran through my thoughts day and night: a husband required attention and management. I began to think that if only I tended to Archie in precisely the right way, I might return him to his earlier state. If only I could serve him the perfect meals, clean the flat until it shone, provide the most interesting dinner conversation, become the ideal lover, then he’d be content. It was my duty,”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Agatha, people need distraction ━ even frivolity ━ in wartime. Your puzzle should keep people distracted for quite a while.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Agatha, how many times must I tell you? You must go to your husband. A gentleman cannot be left alone for too long.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“where my mother and grandmother spent most of the day sitting side by side in cushioned chairs, two near invalids each pretending to be the other’s caretaker.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Because each of us, man or woman, has our own Fate, less fate than hard work and circumstance, I’ve come to believe.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“I did tell you once that I hate it when people are ill or unhappy. It spoils everything for me. It spoiled us, Agatha.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“As I reread it for a final time, it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Careful you don’t spoil the child, Agatha. You know a little neglect goes a long way.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“What would make these people break from their regular Sunday routines to search for a woman they don’t even know? He certainly wouldn’t do it.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Why doesn’t his home bear this level of perfection? Why must he be constantly assaulted by its lack of household rigor and the emotions and needs of its inhabitants?”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Now that I have authored an authentic self into existence, I will write a perfect ending.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“I stare back at them, wishing that I hadn’t needed to create an unsolvable mystery in order to solve the mystery of myself. But I promise myself—and them—now that I have authored an authentic self into existence, I will write a perfect ending.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“I can recommend the following books, among many wonderful choices: (1) An Autobiography by Agatha Christie; (2) Come Tell Me How You Live: An Archaeological Memoir by Agatha Christie Mallowan; (3) The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery by Agatha Christie, edited by Mathew Prichard; (4) Agatha Christie by Laura Thompson; (5) Agatha Christie: The Disappearing Novelist by Andrew Norman; and (6) Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days by Jared Cade.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“...it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities" (168).”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“But I could never get him quite right because I was an unreliable narrator of my own life, with only the vaguest sense of myself.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Without him weighing me down like an anchor, my mind and my pen will be free to soar. But first, I must slice the anchor rope, and there is only one way to do it.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“Dorothy Sayers,”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“by Gaston Leroux, The Mystery of the Yellow Room.”
― Marie Benedict, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie