If not for Sophie Hannah, perhaps, a new Poirot novel would not have happened at all. Now, after we have investigatedall things Agatha Christie, it is time to shed some light on her, appointed by the guardians of Christie’s legacy, successor – Sophie Hannah. Why her? Is she nearly as eccentric as Christie was? Does she possess a mysterious mind? What did it mean to her to be entrusted such a honourable task? With us you will find out this and more; another great literary person gets introduced today.
She was born in Manchester, England in 1971. Her father, Norman Geras, worked as a professor at Manchester University (where she studied later in life) and lectured political theory. Hannah's mum is the author Adèle Geras (like mother, like daughter) known for The Girls in the Velvet Frame, Happy Ever After and over 95 other books for children, young adults and adults.
Sophie first made a name for herself as an author at the age of 24, when she published her first book of poems, The Hero and the Girl Next Door, with Carcanet Press, to whom she remained loyal for her poetic career. With her style often compared to surrealistic verse of Lewis Carroll, she proved to have inspirational drive in common with Agatha Christie. In 2004 she was named one of the Poetry Book Society's Next Generation poets, with her collective work including at this point books of poems such as: The Hero and the Girl Next Door (1995), Hotels Like Houses (1996), Leaving and Leaving You (1999), Love Me Slender: Poems About Love (2000) and First of the Last Chances (2003). In 2006 Selected Poems followed and a year later Pessimism for Beginners enriched her literary pot.
Despite showcasing a particular talent for lyrical verses, she did not limit herself to them. Prose was just as much a subject of her interest, and has not only produced The Box Room and Poems for Children, but also wrote Carrot the Goldfish (1992), a sweet, funny and warm short story for children about Bobby and his gran, and an April Fool's trick he came up with after seeing carrot peel floating on the surface of the water. As for the adult readers, Hannah is guilty of ‘committing’ fiction: The Superpower of Love (2002), Cordial and Corrosive: an Unfairy Tale (2000), Gripless (1999) and short story collection The Fantastic Book of Everybody's Secrets (2008). Oh, and did you know that she co-translated Moomin adventure The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My by Tove Jansson?
Why and how did she become drawn to crime novels? One could say she has always had something for this genre; growing up as Agatha Christie’s dedicated fan shaped her literary personality and significantly influenced her writing style. In the article for The Guardian she admits that her interest in intrigue and mystery solving derives from Christie’s novels.
In an interview with Agathan Christie's website, she said,“I read and collected all her novels within a year, and have been a passionately - some might even say obsessively - devoted fan ever since. It was Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple who, between them, made me want to devote my working life to crime fiction, and it was Christie's brilliant plotting and deep understanding of the human psyche that shaped my identity as a crime writer.”
Beginning her crime fiction career in 2006, she wrote 9 psychological thrillers, known as The Waterhouse and Zailer series, amongst them: Little Face (2006), Hurting Distance (2007) re-published as The Truth-Teller's Lie (2010), The Point of Rescue (2008) also published as The Wrong Mother (2009), The Other Half Lives (2009) also published as The Dead Lie Down (2009), A Room Swept White (2010) also published as The Cradle in the Grave (2011), Lasting Damage (2011) also published as The Other Woman's House (2012), Kind of Cruel (2012), The Carrier (2013), the latest one - The Telling Error (2014) and a horror novel entitled The Orphan Choir in 2013.
Each book garnered critical praise for incredibly psychologically developed, morally grey characters and her ability to create the twistiest plots known to woman. Some say “her books are so distinctive that they deserve to be placed in a separate sub-genre on their own”. Her first novel, Little Face, has sold more than 100,000 copies. Her 2008 novel The Point of Rescue was produced for TV as the two-part drama Case Sensitive and shown on ITV - it’s first showing gathering an audience of 5.4 million. In 2012 her novel Kind of Cruel was shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year. The Telling Error perhaps received the most highly complementary review after Stylist US magazine stated that Hannah proved once again that she deserved the accolade of Queen of Crime.
The word spread, but it was not only for her achievements and exceptional penmanship that guardians of Christie’s legacy approached her. The fact that Hannah has always been Agatha’s dedicated fan and has wanted to use Detective Poirot in the plot of one of her contemporary novels for years, made her a perfect candidate too. Along with her enthusiasm, it convinced them that “it was time to try it”. Matthew Pritchard, Christie's grandson, believes his grandmother would have approved of a new Poirot instalment with Sophie Hannah writing it. Hannah reassured that Hercule Poirot is “a very familiar and much-loved character” to her, so the project seems to have been placed in good hands.
What began as a “mildly terrifying prospect”, in which a the thrill, honour and joy of being approached outweighed everything else for Sophie Hannah, became a real thing which now is almost completed. The book is set to be released in September 2014. But that's not the last of our delving into the latest Poirot mystery on I'm With Geek. Stay with us, this investigation is not over yet!
You may find some clues on Sophie Hannah's official website, or her twitter.