Endless Night

Find related products

Summary

Genre: Supernatural

Format: Novel

Setting: House

Location: England

Murder Methods: Poison, Strangling, Falling/Being Pushed

Synopsis

Gipsy's Acre is a truly beautiful upland site with views out to sea and, for Michael Rogers, it stirs a child-like fantasy. He wants to settle there, amongst the dark fir trees. Yet, as he leaves the village, a shadow of menace hangs over the land. This is the place where accidents happen. Perhaps Michael should have heeded the locals' warnings: "There's no luck for them as meddles with Gipsy's Acre."

The novel was adapted for the screen and released in 1972. It starred Hayley Mills and Britt Eklund. Agatha Christie was unhappy with the attempt to enliven the plot by infusing the movie with sexual scenes. Both Christie and her husband claim in their respective autobiographies that the novel is among their favorites due to the "twisted" character who had a chance of turning good but instead chose evil. The book is dedicated to the author's relative Nora Prichard, who first told the author about a field called 'Gipsy's Acres' on the Welsh moors. The title of the novel is drawn from the Romantic poet William Blake's Auguries of Innocence, of which a key line is 'Some are born to Endless Night'.

Story locations map

View locations in this story on the Christie map.

View the map

Christie trivia

In an interview for The Times following the book’s publication, Christie explained “It’s rather different from anything I’ve done before, more serious – a tragedy really. Usually I spend three or four months on a book, but I wrote Endless Night in six weeks. If you can write fairly quickly, the results can often be more spontaneous.”

Christie began writing Endless Night in late 1966 while accompanying her husband Sir Max Mallowan on an archaeological lecture tour of America. The title is taken from a verse of William Blake’s poem Auguries or Innocence, which is included in the book. In Christie’s early notes the central character, Jason, was Australian or American, ‘a good-looking adventurer’. The character that eventually became Greta was originally called Hildegarde, and was described as a ‘Valkyrie girl’.

About us: Agatha Christie Ltd; Terms & Conditions; Contact us; About Acorn Media Group

Discover Christie: Christie biography; Christie timeline; Where to start; Stories; Detectives and sidekicks; Christie maps

News & community: News stories; Christie papers; Christie week; Community and events; Future events; Community members; Have your say

Products: Audio books; Books; Books about Christie; Film and TV; Games; Gifts

Frequently asked questions: General FAQ; For teachers; For students; For librarians; For journalists; Licensing enquiries; Professional stage enquiries; Amateur Stage Productions