Setting: The Hollow, London
Starring: Hercule Poirot, John Christow, Gerda Christow, Henrietta Savernake
Important Other People: Lucy and Henry Angkatell, Midge Hardcastle, Edward Angkatell, Inspector Grange, Veronica Cray, Mrs. Crabtree, Gudgeon
The enigma of John Christow. I would like to talk to Agatha about how she feels about him. He is a complete contradiction- he is awful to Gerda (who is awful herself) and their children (also awful), he doesn't treat Henrietta well, he overshadows Edward, and he is pompous. At the same time, he is a completely different person when he is with Mrs. Crabtree trying to tackle Ridgeway's disease. Usually, I can tell what characters Agatha expects us to like and which we should dislike based on the descriptions of them that she gives. With John Christow, though, the descriptions differ so wildly throughout the book that I don't know what to think. Overall, I hate him because he is an ass and because he blatantly cheated on his wife in front of the entire house party, as well as surreptitiously with Henrietta, but I love Mrs. Crabtree and I have to like him a little bit because she likes and respects him so much.
I also have to wonder if John would ever have married Gerda if he had not been coming off the rebound with Veronica Cray. He wants someone to dominate after having just been dominated by Veronica, and so he naturally turns to Gerda, although she is not as weak as he thinks. When he meets Henrietta, he must have realized he made a mistake with Gerda, but it was too late. Besides, he liked dominating Gerda. I hate that John was able to have both of them- Henrietta, at least, had a strong enough personality to stand on her own.
See, that's part of the problem with John Christow. I hate him, yet I just spent two paragraphs writing about him.
I love the subplot with Midge and Edward, even though it is quite depressing through much of the book. The faithful kind usually get what they want in the end- in Edward's case, he gets what he wants, even if he didn't realize beforehand what exactly it was that he wanted. He knew he wanted Ainswick the way he remembered it from the past, and eventually, he got that. Just not in the way he imagined.
One small aspect of this book that we do not usually get to see in Agatha's novels are the conversations among the servants. This is helpful because we learn more of the devoted nature of Gudgeon and the other servants to the Angkatells, and we also get more insight than we are used to. The conversations help show how everyone worked together to protect the murderer, which is another unusual aspect. Poirot usually knows who the murderer is before anyone else in the book does, but in The Hollow, everyone else knows who murdered John, and we have to watch Poirot try to stay one step ahead of everyone's intentions to save the murderer.
One last thing: Poirot always considers the human aspect of his cases, but this one is particularly difficult- there are children in this case that are going to have one parent murdered and the other one hanged. To compensate for that, Poirot offers another solution- poison. The children will still be orphans, but there may be less animosity towards society when they grow up (especially with Terence).
Interesting facts: According to my pal Matthew Bunson, "The Hollow was the first Christie novel published after the end of World War II...the setting for this story, the country house of the Angkatells, was based on the real-life house of the famous British stage actor Francis L. Sullivan and his wife at Hazlemere, Surrey." Agatha acknowledges the use of their house as the setting in her dedication, "For Larry and Danae, with apologies for using their swimming pool as the scene of a murder." Agatha herself adapted The Hollow into a play. She writes, "It was, of course, in some ways rather more of a novel than a detective story. The Hollow was a book I always thought I had ruined by the introduction of Poirot. I had got used to having Poirot in my books, and so naturally he had come into this one, but he was all wrong there. He did his stuff all right, but how much better, I kept thinking, would the book have been without him. So when I came to sketch out the play, out went Poirot." Agatha adds that the success of The Hollow as a play helped spur her on to write more plays.
Favorite? Yes. So favorite, in fact, that I went to see a production of the play with my family at a theater in the country. Talk about high quality acting...especially the guy who played Sergeant Clark. I would like to point out that, in the play, John Christow is still a respected doctor from Harley Street, but the whole subplot with Mrs. Crabtree and Ridgeway's disease is left out. Accordingly, the John in the play has little to no redeeming qualities, and is thus a lot easier to dislike than the John in the book.
Death by: shooting, poison
Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 101
The Count: Poirot-22, Miss. Marple-3, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-4, Superintendent Battle-5, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 4, Mrs. Oliver-1, Albert- 2
Agatha's Life Lessons: There can be a certain zest to existence. One can't go back (into the past). Some people are wise- they never expect to be happy. Servants can be very useful (shoutout to Gudgeon!) Expressions can be very helpful. The eyes see sometimes what they are meant to see. Police don't always consider the human aspect (but don't worry, because Poirot does). It is hard to tell right from wrong when right is unpleasant and wrong is agreeable. The faithful kind usually get what they want in the end. Despair is coldness and loneliness.
Up Next: Taken at the Flood
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