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catherine_the_greatest 's review for:
Endless Night
by Agatha Christie
Endless Night is Agatha Christie's take on the gothic novel (a cursed property, a fortune-telling gypsy, a wealthy young woman manipulated by her extended family, a talented architect wasting away from some blood disease, etc.) but set in the 1960s. Our narrator is Michael "Mike" Rogers, a charming, working-class, ne'er-do-well, who is just floating through life until he meets Fenella "Ellie" Guteman, who just happens to be one of the wealthiest young women in America. They fall in love and build their dream house on Gipsy's Acre, a spot that's said to be cursed. We know from the beginning that things will not end well, but Mike meanders through the story, building suspense along the way. How will it all end? Was there anything he could have done differently?
Old Agatha really had a grudge against those hippie kids and it comes out in her writing. This has that same vibe as some of her later Poirot mysteries, where those kids are just too modern and lazy for their own good, with their drugs and their free love. It's entertaining in the same way as listening to Boomers complain about how Millennials could afford a house if they'd just give up their avocado toast and lattes. There's an interesting, but somewhat jarring, juxtaposition between this crotchety take on the main characters and the excellent use of gothic tropes to build suspense. Definitely not the same old thing she'd been doing for 50 years, but not one of her best (even though it was apparently one of her favorites).
Spoiler
As a matter of fact, it was all a set-up from the beginning, to get Ellie's money so that Mike and Greta (who had previously met in Germany) could finance the lifestyle of their dreams. But Mike goes crazy in the end, kills Greta, and goes to jail.Old Agatha really had a grudge against those hippie kids and it comes out in her writing. This has that same vibe as some of her later Poirot mysteries, where those kids are just too modern and lazy for their own good, with their drugs and their free love. It's entertaining in the same way as listening to Boomers complain about how Millennials could afford a house if they'd just give up their avocado toast and lattes. There's an interesting, but somewhat jarring, juxtaposition between this crotchety take on the main characters and the excellent use of gothic tropes to build suspense. Definitely not the same old thing she'd been doing for 50 years, but not one of her best (even though it was apparently one of her favorites).