The Owl House (novel)
The Owl House (original title The Hollow ) is the 37th detective novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the United States in 1946 at Dodd, Mead and Company and then in the United Kingdom at the Collins Crime Club in November of that year. The Scherz Verlag (Bern) published the German edition 1947. In 1985, the novel by Ursula Gail was recompiled. In S. Fischer paperback publisher 2004, a new translation of published Pieke Biermann as unabridged edition.
After a four-year hiatus, it determined Hercule Poirot in his 22nd novel.
The novel is an excellent example of a criminal chamber play on a country estate.
action
The charming and eccentric Lucy Angkatell has invited the Christows, together with some friends and family members, to her country estate Das Eulenhaus over the weekend . John Christow has an affair with Henrietta Savernake, a talented sculptor . He also remembers his childhood sweetheart, Veronica Cray, who suddenly appears in the owl house to ask for matches . Veronica lives in one of two cottages nearby. Hercule Poirot currently lives in the other. He is on holiday. John accompanies Veronica out and does not return to the owl house until three in the morning.
Poirot is invited to lunch on Sunday and when he arrives at the house, he witnesses a strange scene: Gerda, John's wife, is standing with a pistol in hand next to her husband's body, whose blood is dripping into the swimming pool . She is surrounded by Lucy and Henrietta, his last word was "Henrietta".
It seems clear that Gerda is the murderer. But when Henrietta tries to take the gun out of her hand, the gun falls into the pool and all evidence is apparently destroyed. But it is later discovered that this pistol was not the one with which John was shot. Nobody saw the actual shot.
Now all those present come under suspicion one after the other. Ultimately, it turns out that Gerda was the murderer. She acted out of jealousy. Lucy had undertaken the complicated diversionary maneuvers to prove Gerda's innocence.
people
- Hercule Poirot, the Belgian master detective
- Inspector Grange, the investigating officer
- Dr. John Christow, a successful Harley Street doctor
- Gerda Christow, his wife
- Terence and Zena, children of the Christows
- Lady Lucy Angkatell, friend of the Christows, landlady in the owl house
- Sir Henry Angkatell, Lucy's husband
- Henrietta Savernake, sculptor, Lucy's cousin, John's lover
- Midge Hardcastle, cousin of Lucy and Henrietta
- Edward Angkatell, cousin of Lucy, Henrietta and Midge
- David Angkatell, intellectual cousin of Midge, Edward, Lucy, and Henrietta
- Gudgeon, butler in the owl house
- Veronica Cray, actress and former fiancee of John
background
As is so often the case, Agatha Christie used a real object as a model for the country estate “the owl house” ( The Hollow ). It was here at the home of actor Francis L. Sullivan in the county of Surrey . The novel is therefore dedicated to him and his wife: "For Larry and Danae - apologizing for using their swimming pool as a crime scene." Sullivan only found out about this after the novel had been completed and he received an advance copy from Christie with a dedication.
Adaptations for the stage and the film
The Hollow (play)
After the success of her own adaptations of the novels for the stage, Christie decided to edit this book for the stage herself. The premiere took place on February 10, 1951 at the Art's Theater in Cambridge . Christie was absent because she was with her husband Max Mallowan on an excavation in Iraq . For the play she had written Poirot from the plot. Christie later stated that she "ruined" the novel by forcing the character of Poirot into it.
Agatha Christie's Poirot
In 2004 the novel was filmed for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot and Megan Dodds as Henrietta Savernake.
Important English and German language editions
- 1946 Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1946
- 1946 Collins Crime Club (London), November 1946
- 1947 German first edition Scherzverlag (Bern)
- 1985 New translation by Ursula Gail Scherzverlag (Bern)
- 2004 New translation by Pieke Biermann and the unabridged version by Fischer Taschenbuchverlag (Frankfurt am Main)
Web links
- The Hollow on the official Agatha Christie website
- The Hollow (2004) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Cooper and BA Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide : Second Edition (Pages 82 and 87) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
- ↑ American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ↑ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club - A checklist of First Editions . Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 15)
- ↑ a b German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ A b New translation 1985 in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ A b New translation in 2004 in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Agatha Christie: The Owl House. Fischer, Frankfurt 2004, ISBN 3-596-50749-9 , pp. 221-222.