Titles (or "British vs American")
Many readers of Agatha Christie know that her books were known by different titles (we're talking about the English language here). One title would be different than another across the Atlantic. 4.50 from Paddington in the UK, and What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! in the US? Why? How about the British title Why Didn't They Ask Evans? comapred to its American one, The Boomerang Clue? These are titles for the same novel?!
In this article, we attempt to analyze the curious differences between the title of a Christie novel in the UK versus that in the US. We'll see if there's a clear winner between the two (well, it'll be my humble opinion). Following each entry, you get to decide by placing a vote.
The Thirteen Problems
The Thirteen Problems was an interesting choice by (presumably) the publishers. The entire framework of this short story collection centers on the friends of Miss Marple gathering together on Tuesday evenings to solve mysteries. One of the residents would propose a true "mysterious" mystery/puzzle for the others to solve. There might be some critics that would argue the American title is not even the best: the 13th mystery doesn't get discussed at all in the "get-together" setting. That final story centers on the happenings in St. Mary Mead and it involves Henry Clithering's (retired Scotland Yard chief) involvement. A weak rebuttal to the argument is that Clithering was a member of the "Tuesday Club". Doesn't the American title sound more "catchy" than the boring title of The Thirteen Problems? That's hardly an inticing title, either at the bookstore, library, or at home.
Winner:
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Lord Edgware Dies
The novel is a fantastic and clever one, but yet--the titles just don't do this story justice. We have a boring title as Lord Edgware Dies for the British edition, and on the other side of the Atlantic the title centers on the dinner. Granted, the dinner at Sir Montagu's home provided the alibi and relief to the suspect Jane Wilkinson. That's hardly an important reason for picking this as the American title. Poirot and Hastings meet a young actor Donald Ross (half-way through the novel) when he mentions that there were thirteen in number at the dinner. Unlucky number? Both this event in the novel and the US title play on the superstition that "13 people at a table" is unlucky in western cultures. (Person who got up at the end of dinner happened to be the unlucky Mr. Ross. Was this a clue to the murderer's identity later in the novel? That's really debatable.) The mention of "thirteen" happens later twice, both by Hastings and Poirot quoting Hastings--but thirteen still has nothing to do with the plot. The dinner is important to the plot because, as mentioned before, it provides a solid alibi. Shouldn't the American title be something like "The Dinner Alibi" instead? (I'm being silly here.) As for titles, I'll settle with the simple UK choice.
Winner:
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Murder on the Orient Express
The British title might be a bland title to some readers. I don't think it is; it's one of Agatha's most simplest titles. There's a murder and it's on the famous and iconic Orient Express. I think the word "Orient" evokes mystery--and it sounds exotic and far away. The American title is poorly chosen; it was chosen because author Graham Greene published his Orient Express in the US in 1932, two years before Agatha's book. (By the way, Greene's book had a different title as Stamboul Train in the UK!) However, Agatha's publishers Dodd, Mead & Co. chose "Calais". People might ask: "Calais? Huh?" Would the American public know what that is? Would they care? I don't even include the number of people who might mispronounce "Calais" in this argument. I also think "Express" sounds more romantic than "Coach". I'm positive our detective Hercule Poirot would never ride "coach", and neither should we read an Agatha Christie novel that's labelled "coach" either.
Winner:
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Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
A book with an intriguing title will surely sell many copies. I'd like to think that was the case with Why Didn't They Ask Evans?. It is uttered by the man who fell off the cliff, discovered by our young hero Bobby Jones. By the second chapter, it's been discussed and gets the reader to ask: "why is that important?" Spoiler alert: As to the American title The Boomerang Clue, that doesn't get a mention until the third-to-last chapter! (The word "boomerang" is not even used!) It seems the title has no bearing to the plot until the revelation on chapter 33. It's a little clever the title makes a connection to the final piece: our heroes go back to where they started, just like a boomerang returning from its origin. This American title is just too vague--and it's not much of a clue really. That clue comes too late in the book. You ask yourself: what IS the boomerang clue? It's the very words "why didn't they ask Evans?"
Winner:
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Three-Act Tragedy
The UK title is an effective title, because the novel acts out like a play. There are scenes populated with the characters acting out the drama. Even the beginning of the play lets you know who directs, who does the costuming, and who provides the lighting. One of the main characters is an actor by profession, Sir Charles. The story is a tragedy--any murder is! The US title of Murder in Three Acts is too weak. Is there one murder in three acts, or is there a separate murder in each of the acts? Besides, I think Three-Act Tragedy sounds more theatrical, doesn't it?
Winner:
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Dumb Witness
This is interesting to me, for I actually like both titles. The novel in my personal library is titled Poirot Loses a Client, not the UK one. I like the US one for the reason that it ties in with Poirot's involvement with the Arundell family well. Poirot receives a letter from Emily Arundell two months after she wrote him, soliciting his aid. Poirot and his companion Hastings don't know she had already died until they visit Market Basing. Poirot has "lost" her already and it's up to him to fulfill Emily's wishes. You may compare this novel with the similar plot in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?" (also with Poirot). In each story, he "loses" his client and goes back in the past to bring closure to their deaths. An argument against the American title would be that it is negative. One might see that the title focuses on failure: that Poirot has "lost" a client. One should never think of Hercule Poirot as a failure! The "dumb witness" of the British title is none other than Emily's wire-haired terrier, Bob. Emily writes to Poirot about an "accident", the "incident of the dog's ball", that has preyed on her mind. An argument against the British title is that Bob is not strictly a witness of the accident, for he was placed outside that night. Furthermore, Bob the dog wasn't even around when Emily died 2 weeks later. In favor of the UK title, Agatha dedicates this novel to her pet dog Peter, also a wire-haired terrier. In conclusion, among the two great titles for this mystery, the winner is:
Winner:
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One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
The novel starts with the murder of a dentist, both Hercule Poirot's and Alastair Blunt's. The story centers on the various attempts on Blunt's life, an important banker and financial genius important to England. With him out of the way, solvency would end and a financially secure England would cease. For a public figure like Blunt, who hires Poirot, the alternate title The Patriotic Murders is wisely chosen. The three murders in the novel involve also Blunt, the Prime Minister, and an agent from the Home Office named Barnes. As one can see, politics and patriotism play big here. In fact, the young people in the novel love their England, too; however, they would have it under a "new heaven and new earth." This novel is another example of Christie injecting a nursery rhyme with her writings. Every chapter's title is a line taken from the rhyme "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe". Every now and then (but NOT in every chapter), an attempt is made by Christie to tie in the rhyme with the plot (unsuccessfully). She even finishes off (weakly) the novel with Poirot quoting it by saying, "my plate's empty." The title's genuine connection to the rhyme has to do with a murdered victim's shoe being broken, with the buckle clumsily being sewn back on.
Winner:
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Five Little Pigs
This is another novel that refers to a nursery rhyme. Agatha enjoyed employing these rhymes to her writings. Some rhymes are barely part of the plot (Hickory Dickory Dock, Third Girl), and some have great importance and meaning (And Then There Were None, A Pocket Full of Rye). In the case of Five Little Pigs, it's the former. The title has little meaning to the book, and there's no connection of the rhyme to the murder of Amyas Crale. There are five suspects--but none of them goes to the market, has roast beef, or cries "wee-wee-wee". The novel's primary events (and the murder) all take place in the past. Poirot goes back into the past by interviewing all who were present. Murder in Retrospect (its American title) is very wisely chosen. "Retrospect" means contemplation or the looking back on the past. It's no mistake that the stage version of the novel was titled Go Back for Murder, chosen by Christie herself. The very title for the play is solid evidence that Murder in Retrospect is a more accurate title for the story.
Winner:
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Sparkling Cyanide
The US title for this novel might be similar in vein with Murder in Retrospect (see above)--the "remembering the past" aspect. These two plots differ, however. The focus here is George Barton's remembrance of Rosemary, his wife, who died drinking champagne with cyanide. All of the Bartons' friends keep Rosemary in remembrance--and it is George who invites them all again a year later to remember the night she died. Agatha's narration also focuses on George and the others remembering Rosemary--and the "why" she died. That is why this novel differs from Murder in Retrospect (US title) as mentioned, because Poirot focuses on the murder of Crale and asks those present to focus on the "how" she died. Did you know that the perennial herb rosemary has been a symbol for remembrance, and it's had reputation for improving one's memory? Shakespeare's play Hamlet is quoted in the novel (taken from Act 4, scene 5): "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance--pray you, love, remember." Despite the theme of "remembrance", the UK title was still Sparkling Cyanide--and frankly, it sounds good. It's also important, for George Barton dies from cyanide poisoning at the dinner the year later. I'm torn between the two titles; one sounds just like a mystery book and it ties in with the deaths of the Bartons, and the other title really focuses on the whole gist of the plot and George's efforts to the truth. This is another difficult one to choose. After considering these arguments--the "better" title would be:
Winner:
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The Hollow
As to why Dell Books published the novel in 1954 as Murder After Hours, I don't know. The original title both in the UK and the US was The Hollow, published in 1946 (proof can be seen at Delicious Death's website). "The Hollow" is simply the name of the Angatell home in the countryside. Something about that name evokes words like "rustic" or "small-town", and it succeeds. Agatha probably selected the word "hollow" from Tennyson's poem "Maud", the line being: "I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood..." I see the word as a description of the relationship between Dr. Christow and his wife--that it's hollow or void, a pit with no escape. The "After Hours" in the Dell edition of the novel most likely refers to his being murdered after his morning work seeing patients at the office. Curiously, Agatha considered two different titles for this novel when planning it; she selected Return Journey and Tragic Weekend as possibilities (see John Curran's Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks).
Winner:
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Taken at the Flood
This fantastic novel tells the story of an extended family that struggles with the knowledge that their rich brother/uncle cannot help them beyond the grave. His widow (who's inherited all the money) controls the money. The helpless Cloade family is pitted against selfishness, bad luck, and a series of unfortunate events. These are the equivalent of the "tide" (like the title) that comes upon the Cloades. The titles come from William Shakespeare's Juluis Caesar (Act 4), in which Brutus convinces Cassius that it is time to seize the opportunity to go against Octavius and Antony in armed combat. I think the lesson to be learned is that one must take advantage ("seize the day") of a high tide that "leads on to fortune" (quoted from the play's passage). If the tide is missed, opportunities (and fate) will float on by. The Cloades see fate presenting itself (the possibility that Underhay, the widow's first husband, is not dead) and take advantage of it. Some favorable circumstances will present themselves--it is up to us to recognize our great fortune. I really like the American title There is a Tide for a few reasons. "There is a tide" starts up on it own line, whereas "taken at the flood" is more buried in the quote. In analyzing Brutus' quote, I don't see why readers would prefer the word "flood" more than "tide". (In the different analyses of the quote on the web, nowhere have I seen someone mention "flood".)
Winner:
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Destination Unknown
Destination Unknown is an aptly named title; Hilary Craven heads off to the unknown in the Atlas Mountains. Already feeling suicidal, she has nothing and feels nothing. Certainly, the unknown is not nothing--yet, it is very vague and void of expectations. For the unknown, there would be many who are armed with simply hope or faith. It is said that the journey is the life-changer, not the actual "getting there." However, don't misunderstand. Hilary's had quite a journey through the book. Jessop quotes Shakespeare's Twelvth Night at the end referencing these lines "Journeys end in lovers meeting,/Every wise man's son doth know" (Act 2, scene 3, lines 44-45). Jessop observes that what Hilary went though was a journey, too (well, she also found love in Andy). What does the American title So Many Steps to Death even mean? So many times Hilary was at death's door? I hardly think so. The American title is one of the weakest of them all.
Winner:
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4.50 from Paddington
I think this is another example where Agatha's American publishers thought American audiences wouldn't "connect" with the novel because of the title's "Britishness". Is this a fact? No, probably not, but I like to speculate it is. (Another novel, titled The Sittaford Mystery (1931), was retitled Murder at Hazelmoor for American readers. This is another instance of a British location disappearing when a novel was published in the United States. Curious.) What's strange is the American editions of this book has Elspeth McGillicuddy boarding "the 4:54 for Brackhampton", not at the time of 4:50! The same train leaves Paddington Station at 4:50 in the British edition, thus matching its original title! (Dodd, Mead & Co.--Agatha's American publishers--said their first manuscript stated the time as 4:54. The original title of the novel was to be 4:54 from Paddington. See both John Curran's Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks and The Agatha Christie Companion by Dennis Sanders and Len Lovallo for more information.) Anyway, the chosen American title sounds like something on the front of a tabloid: "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! Page 4 for Details!". I can imagine the cover of a magazine with a lady's eyes bulging out, and the caption reading: "Exlusive: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!" An Agatha Christie mystery title shouldn't sound like a newspaper headline.
Winner:
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