Summary
Agatha Christie’s World Adventure
In January 1922, a young writer named Agatha Christie embarked on a 10-month voyage around the world with her husband, Archie. She was 31 years old and the mother of a two-year-old daughter, Rosalind, who stayed behind in England. Christie’s first novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” had been published only two years earlier. On the trip, she would surf in Hawaii, cruise the Zambezi River, and ride a train through Australia’s Dandenong Ranges.
These experiences would find their way into her later works — a character from her 1924 book “The Man in the Brown Suit” was directly inspired by Major Belcher, Archie’s boss, who made the trip with them. Throughout her novels, foreign destinations become more than just a setting — they almost become characters themselves. What is “Murder on the Orient Express” without the titular train, which Christie herself traveled on many times?
Luxury Tour Itineraries
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the author’s grand adventure, luxury tour operator Black Tomato has debuted a series of itineraries that parallel her trip. There are three “chapters” — Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and North America — that each range from 10 to 15 nights and can be experienced either individually or as a whirlwind 40-day journey.
Tea with James Prichard
During a recent trip to London, I had the opportunity to partake in Black Tomato’s “prelude experience,” which introduces travelers to Christie’s world before embarking on the chosen chapter. My stay included two nights in a sumptuous suite at Brown’s Hotel, one of Christie’s favorite haunts where she often wrote in the drawing room. The highlight of my visit was undoubtedly tea with Christie’s great-grandson, James Prichard, in the drawing room at Brown’s. We conversed for hours over tiny sandwiches and treats, including prawn cocktail and cherry pistachio tart, accompanied by cups of Ceylon tea.
Influence of Travel on Writing
“My great-grandmother’s travels were a huge influence on her writing,” Prichard shared. He elaborated that Christie continued to explore the world even after her grand tour — following her divorce in 1928, she journeyed alone to Syria and Iraq, where she eventually met her second husband, Max Mallowan. The popular novel “Death on the Nile,” published in 1937, reflected her experience from a cruise on the river with Mallowan, while their 1958 trip to Barbados is believed to have inspired the setting of “A Caribbean Mystery.”
“By the time she reached the height of her fame,” Prichard remarked, “she was an older woman. It’s important to remember her adventurous spirit during her youth. She embarked on solo journeys, navigating the world independently. That reflects her immense courage and curiosity.”
Black Tomato’s Agatha Christie itineraries start at $7,195, not including the two-day London introduction.
