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The Mysterious Affair at Greenway
Yesterday I drove Hiroko two hours south of Bristol, to Agatha Christie's holiday home, Greenway, a Georgian villa sitting very picturesquely on a hill near the mouth of the River Dart. It's a rather lovely place, and with its tennis courts, fernery, croquet lawn, boathouse, etc., it does feel as it one has stepped into the pages of a Christie novel, or perhaps a game of Cluedo. Indeed, she used the house and its grounds as the basis of Nasse House when writing Dead Man's Folly.
Anyway, the house is really worth going to if you've even a slight interest in Christie - it's been in the care of the National Trust since 2000.
Of course, when we got home we hit Britbox and watched the Suchet version of Dead Man's Folly, and enjoyed spotting some of the same locations (the boat house, the battery, and of course Greenway itself, instantly recognisable despite now being magnolia).
But hold! Sometimes the house looks rather different!
The reason for the swap isn't hard to see. A garden fete takes place in fron of the house in the story, and the lawn in front of the real Greenway slopes away sharply, making it unsuitable. So, a sward-rich imposter was substituted. Greenway and the imposter house are repeatedly, indeed brazenly swapped throughout the 90 minutes of the drama. They may be in a similar style, but how could one frontage possibly be taken for the other?
They presumably were, though, by most viewers. Even I, having been to the house just that day, had to rewind to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me. It makes all the cases of doubling and disguise in Christie's stories - including this one - somehow much easier to believe.
Anyway, the house is really worth going to if you've even a slight interest in Christie - it's been in the care of the National Trust since 2000.
Of course, when we got home we hit Britbox and watched the Suchet version of Dead Man's Folly, and enjoyed spotting some of the same locations (the boat house, the battery, and of course Greenway itself, instantly recognisable despite now being magnolia).
But hold! Sometimes the house looks rather different!
The reason for the swap isn't hard to see. A garden fete takes place in fron of the house in the story, and the lawn in front of the real Greenway slopes away sharply, making it unsuitable. So, a sward-rich imposter was substituted. Greenway and the imposter house are repeatedly, indeed brazenly swapped throughout the 90 minutes of the drama. They may be in a similar style, but how could one frontage possibly be taken for the other?
They presumably were, though, by most viewers. Even I, having been to the house just that day, had to rewind to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me. It makes all the cases of doubling and disguise in Christie's stories - including this one - somehow much easier to believe.