This biography probes the private life and motivations of one of the bestselling authors of all time and discovers a brilliant woman whose passionate search for success was offset by an obsession for privacy. The breakup of Agatha's first marriage to Archibald Christie, and her subsequent 10 day disappearance, had made headline news. Feeling hunted and wounded by the press, Christie determined never again to let them into her private life. She affected a public persona, tongue-tied and dull, which ensured that journalists would let her be. This successful strategy assisted a happy second marriage and family life as well as an astonishing literary output. Author Gillian Gill has uncovered a unique and determined woman whose fictional creations sparked the imagination of millions around the world.