in what year was nemesis set

kittydaviskittydavis Normandy
in Ask an expert
Was Nemesis chronologically the last book Miss Marple appeared in? If not, which?

Comments

  • taliavishay-arbeltaliavishay-arbel
    edited November 2017

    Nemesis was the last Miss Marple book written by Agatha Christie. Despite the fact that it was published 7 years after "Caribbean Holiday" (in 1971), it is supposed to take place a a year and 3 or 4 months after "Holiday".

    "Sleeping Murder" was published after Agatha Christie's death in 1976, but was written much earlier - during WWII. Considering inner clues it is clear it is meant to take place much earlier than the later books - Miss Marple is still gardening (in Nemesis she is not allowed to do any gardening) and Colonel Bantry is still alive (in "The Mirror Cracked from side to side", which precedes "Caribbean Holiday", he is already deceased). So that "Nemesis" is definitely Miss Marple's last appearance.

    I think Agatha Christie meant it to be the last Miss Marple book. The ending is very upbeat, and leaves Miss Marple with renewed spirits and energy, meaning to spend her legacy to enjoy herself - A fitting farewell.

  • ChristieFanForLife ChristieFanForLife
    edited November 2017
    Chronologically, Nemesis would be the last book in the series. It was written at the end of Christie's life. Though that book is a fitting end to the Miss Marple series and was written at the of Christie's life, Sleeping Murder is the last published book in the series. It was not only published posthumously after her death but it was a book that she wrote in 1940, believing if she was ever killed in the air raids during WWII, Sleeping Murder would be her last intended work and her end to the Miss Marple series. After writing it she put the book in a vault and made it over as a deed of gift to her husband. Well Christie didn't die by the air raids so she kept it and released it whenever it was finally time. Christie lived until the 70's and when she died, Sleeping Murder was finally published. 

    If you compare the writing styles of Sleeping Murder and Nemesis, you will find a big difference. The writing in Nemesis rambles at times whereas the previous is tightly written. And that's because of the gap of years she wrote the two; one right at the peak of her career, the other near the end. And Sleeping Murder seems to be set in the 1930s, not the late 60's like Nemesis. In Nemesis, Miss Marple has aged and she can no longer garden --as ordered by her doctor-- as she use to due to her fragile health, whereas in Sleeping Murder, Miss Marple is on her knees pulling bindweed and active in gardening. 



  • ChristieFanForLife ChristieFanForLife
    taliavishay-arbel said:

    I think Agatha Christie meant it to be the last Miss Marple book. The ending is very upbeat, and leaves Miss Marple with renewed spirits and energy, meaning to spend her legacy to enjoy herself - A fitting farewell.

    I agree, definitely a fitting farewell, especially in comparision to Poirot's  Miss Marple gets to spend the money on her little luxuries (ie, a box of marrons glaces and a whole partridge to herself). And she deserves it! Most definitely a fitting end! 
  • ChristieFanForLife ChristieFanForLife
    KittyDavis, as to your question of when "Nemesis" was set, first off, "Nemesis" was published in 1971 but I don't think the book is set in 1970 because there is a reference to Ira Levin's book "Rosemary's Baby" that Miss Marple spots on a rack in a shop, I believe. The book was published 1967. I think the copy Miss Marple sees was just published and released. To my knowledge, books that appear on a rack in a store are newly released or has been out for a few months, not ones that's been out for years. Maybe I'm wrong. 
  • taliavishay-arbeltaliavishay-arbel
    ChristieFanForLife , As I said above, "Nemesis" is supposed to take place less than a year and a half after "Caribbean Holiday". At the beginning of "Nemesis", when MM is remembering Jackson, Rafiel's attendant, she wonders if he stayed with Rafiel, and remembers it was a year and 3 or 4 months ago. "Caribbean Holiday" was published in 1964, which would bring "Nemesis" to 1966. Since AC wrote the book much later, she may have made a mistake about "Rosmary's Baby"'s date of publication, but she may be meaning to indicate that MM's memory for dates is not very firm, and actually the events in "Caribbean Holiday" took place more than a year and a half before "Nemesis".
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    You mean Caribbean Mystery
  • taliavishay-arbeltaliavishay-arbel
    Tommy_A_Jones said:
    You mean Caribbean Mystery

    Right, my mistake.
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