Come, Tell Me How You Live

I have previously read Agatha Christie's crime mysteries but had no idea she had written this memoir until I saw it in a campsite book exchange. Although published in 1946, the archaeological expeditions described actually took place during the 1930s so there is a pronounced inter-war years feel to the book. Christie herself accompanied her husband ostensibly simply in the role of 'wife' but actually took a greater part in the job at hand - cataloguing finds and developing photographs in a tiny excuse for a dark room. As memoirs go, this is a light read and archaeology students will either be disappointed at the lack of detail or horrified at the standards of 1930s digs. I am fascinated to visit Roman ruins on our European travels. In contrast, Mallowan orders his men to dig straight through any Roman or earlier levels, dismissing such 'modernity' in his quest for far older civilisations.

Much of the humour is a little awkward to read now focussing as it does on not-very-successful attempts to make the British expedition's Syrian servants behave as their country house counterparts would back in England. There is, of course, no question of the British contingent attempting to integrate into Arabic, Kurdish or Armenian communities! I did enjoy Come Tell Me How You Live. It is certainly of its time, but does have a certain charm despite that. I just wish Christie had written a more detailed and descriptive book of the actual archaeology. Perhaps Mallowan did?