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The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (published in 1962), also known just as The Mirror Crack'd is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie set in the fictional English village of St. Mary Mead, featuring Miss Jane Marple. See also: 1961 in literature, other events of 1962, 1963 in literature, list of years in literature. ...
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ...
A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ...
Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ...
Fiction (from the Latin fingere, to form, create) is storytelling of imagined events and stands in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality. ...
Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ...
St. ...
Joan Hickson as Miss Marple Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in 12 Agatha Christie crime novels. ...
Plot introduction
Miss Marple investigates the murder of Heather Badcock, who consumed a poisoned cocktail apparently meant for American film actress Marina Gregg, Heather's idol. As Marple investigates, she discovers dark secrets in Marina's past, secrets which also link to other seemingly innocent citizens of St. Mary Mead then has crazy wild sex with the town keeper. The skull and crossbones symbol traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ...
A cocktail. ...
This article is about motion pictures. ...
Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ...
Explanation of the novel's title The title comes from the poem The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ...
The Lady of Shalott is a romantic poem by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892). ...
Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ...
Plot summary Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Because Marina Gregg gave Heather Badcock her own drink shortly after meeting her it was assumed that Marina Gregg must have been the intended victim. Also Marina was much more famous and correspondingly more likely to be a target. However, it eventually becomes apparent that Marina herself poisoned the drink and intended to kill Heather Badcock. Discovering the murderer is also complicated because the motive is so obscure. When Heather Badcock met Marina Gregg, she told her her favourite annecdote. When Heather was younger she was quarantined for a minor illness but she snuck out to meet Marina anyway. Marina had always desperately wanted children but had found it difficult to conceive. However, after adopting a child she was then pregnant. But when her baby was born it was found to be mentally retarded and was abandoned to a lifetime of institutions, leaving Marina emotionally scarred. (This is explored in a subplot where a terrible expression comes over Marina's face while she happens to see a picture of the Madonna and Child. After much speculation it is finally agreed that she was simply shocked by the 'mother and child' image).
Miss Marple later deduces what Marina instantly realised. Heather's minor illness was German measles she infected Marina and caused the mental retardation, and effectively the 'loss', of her only child. Marina then murders Heather for revenge. Rubella (also known as epidemic roseola, German measles or three-day measles) is a disease caused by the Rubella virus. ...
The Name "Gregg" is an allusion to Norman McAllister Gregg who discovered the Congenital rubella syndrome. Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) can occur in a developing fetus of a pregnant woman who has contracted rubella during her first trimester. ...
Spoilers end here.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science There can be little doubt that Christie used the real-life tragedy of American actress Gene Tierney as the basis of her plot. As related in Tierney's autobiography (Self-Portrait, New York: Wyden, 1978, but well-publicized for years previously), in June 1943, while pregnant with her first child, Tierney came down with German measles, contracted during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen.[citation needed] The baby, Daria, was born prematurely, weighing only 3 pounds, 2 ounces, and requiring a total blood transfusion. The infant was also deaf, partially blind with cataracts, was severely retarded and ultimately had to be institutionalized. Some time after, Tierney learned from a fan who approached her for an autograph that the woman, who had been a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps, had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with German measles to meet her at her Hollywood Canteen appearance. This incident, as well as the circumstances under which the actress was imparted the information, is repeated almost verbatum in the story. To hold that Christie developed it out of whole cloth stretches credulity even for a writer of her imagination.[citation needed] Gene Tierney as the title character in Laura Gene Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American actress and former fashion model. ...
The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California between October 3, 1942 and the end of World War II as a club offering food and entertainment for American servicemen, usually on their way overseas. ...
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations The novel has twice been adapted for television: |
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