A collection of short stories. Not bad at all. There’s some interesting stuff in this collection. Even a couple of stories with Poirot, one simple and short, and another more interesting… it’s all very well written.
1. The house of dreams (ita.la casa dei sogni).
I’d say it’s just an exercise in sstyle, and it is well written, but there isn’t much plot. John is Rudolf’s employee, good enough but without ambition. Rudolf’s daughter Maisie sees him and takes a fancy to him, so Rudolf invited him to dinner. John barely notices Maisie, but he immediately likes her friend Allegra, who seems so witty and full of life. He falls in love and when he sees her again he speaks to her so she knows it. She puts him down saying she’ll never marry. Right before meeting Allegra, John dreamed of a beautiful house, and compares it to her. When they talk he says the inside will be jsut as beautful as the outside. That night he dreams that inside the house there’s a horrible, disgusting thing. Maisie, understanding that he wants to see Allegra and not her, tells him that there’s a streak of madness in her family. John leaves to find fortune in Africa, and for ten years he’s afraid of seeing the house and that thing, and then he sees it again, and it’s empty. A month later, a letter informs him that Allegra died. He hadn’t dreamed of the house again. Now he’s sick, a doctor wants him to focus on fighting the sickness, but John only wants to find the house, and when he sees it, all he wants is to go in, so he lets go of everything else, doesn’thear the doctor anymore,and goes inside.
2. The actress (or A trap for the unwary). (Ita L’attrice).
Famous actress Olga Stormer is in trouble when Jake Levitt recognizes in her Nancy Taylor who once shot a man in self-defence, but being young and scared, she fled. Jake wants to blackmail her, because blackmailing women is what he does. Olga has told everything to her politician fiancee., but he’s not the kind of person best to deal with Levitt. Olga chooses to deal with him herself, using her talent for acting and cowardry against him. He asked for a meeting, so she invites him to her house. When he arrives, the house seems empty, until he sees the body of a woman. She seems dead. He touches her, a maid comes out crying that he killed her. He wants to strangle her, but she finds a gun. So he runs, out and away, planning to disappear. The maid was Olga herself, her beautiful hair hidded in her maid outfit. The woman on the floor is her understudy, young actress Miss Ryan, who knows nothing about Nancy or Levitt. Olga talked about hypnotism with her and gave her sleeping pills. Now Miss Ryan will have a job contract, and Olga is safe… and a great actress.
3. The edge (Ita Il limite).
Interesting. Clare is considered by everyone a good person. Everyone also thought she’d get married to her long-time friend Gerald. She did too, until he came back with a prett wife. When talking about a man who went back to drinking after promising to stay sober, she’s a little digusted by the man, but is told to not judge him so harshly because temptations can be hard, and she simply doesn’t understand.
When Clare finds out that Vivien cheats on her husband, she fights with herelf on what to do. She wants to do the right thing, so she stops her initial desire to tell everything to Gerald so he’d divorce Vivien, and says nothing. When she hears, unnoticed, some cruel words said by Vivien about her, she lets her know that she knows. Vivien panics and tells her everything about her Cyril, who dumped her for a rich woman but Vivien still loves him. Clare thinks about it then lets her know she won’t tell Gerald. From time to time, though, she makes allusions about it to see her terrified. She enjoys the power she has. With time, Vivien starts relaxing a bit because Clare has kept her mouth shut for months. When Gerald tells Clare they’ll go away for a year, and maybe enjoy a second honeymoon, Clare feels they’re slipping away from her, and she can’t have that. She immediately writes to Vivien to meet her. The walk path she chooses is called the edge and can be dangerous. Clare says she can’t stay silent anymore, she’ll tell Gerald if Vivien doesn’t tell him herself. Vivien begs her, notvbecause of Gerald that she has never really loved, but because of Cyril, that she still loves madly. This news would ruin him. His wife would divorce him and take everything from him, and Vivien can’t stand that. She says she really loves him, she’d die for him, but Clare is unmovable. She says Vivien is too cowardly to kill herself, and that’s true, but Clare also suggests an easy way to do it, just run down the path. Easy. Vivien agrees it’d be easy and she accepts, and runs down fast, smiling and waving, until she falls down to her death. Shocked, Clare yells she killed her and nobody can change her mind. People saw Vivien run by herself, laughing, so they don’t believe Clare, but from that day on she was never happy again, she lost her mind and lived like a prisoner in a cell.
4. Christmas adventure (or The adventure of the Christmas pudding) (Ita L’avventura di Natale).
This one has Poirot in it, but it’s nothing exciting. It’s Chrismas, there’s esven plus two youngsters in the house, and some of them plan to fakea murder to fool Poirot, but he heard them and makes his own plans. At dinner, a red stone is found in the pudding. At night/early morning, the kids call him for their charade, but then it appears Nancy is really dead; she only drank what Oscar gave her, and the only prints in the snow are Oscar’s and Nancy’s, so instead of calling the police Oscar takes the red stone and his sister and they run. Now Poirot explains his story. Nancy is not dead, just acting for him instead of them. Oscar and his sister were thieves, and Poirot had been tasked with getting the ruby back. Poirot let him take a fake stone while he has the real ruby, and now that he’s wanted, Evelys is no more bound by her promise made out of gratitude, an can marry Roger who she loves. Since it’s Cristmas, Jean throws her arms around Poirot’s neck with a “if you’d step under the mistletoe…” and we’re told Poirot had a lot of fun…
5. The Lonely God (Ita Il dio solitario).
This is just a romantic story but written down doesn’t say all that much, really. It’d be nice if filmed, maybe, like a Christmas movie, that would probably go well. The title refers to a small statue in the British Museum. In a room full of Gods and Idols, there’s one with no name, no description at all, all alone in a corner. Frank often goes to see it, feeling so lonely himself he feels much sympathy for what he calls his Lonely God. He starts noticing that a young woman comes to see his Lonely God twice a week, and he gets interested. She also seems to have noticed him. It takes him a while but he finds the way to approach her, by buying a handkerchief and then pretend he found it so he asked her if it was yours… that first time is short and awkward, and he doesn’t see her for ten days after that, but then she reappears and they start talking about their little lonely god, and then about themselves, and she wants to avoid names to make it more intriguing, until the day he says he loves her. She loves him too, but she can’t marry him or tell him her name, so she disappears with a note. He starts painting, then he reads the story of a princess who had everything but felt lonely, and he painted his best one, and finaly he sees her again at the Museum, she was praying to the lonely god, and indeed Frank appears. She says she wrote that story, her story, she just borrowed her maid’s clothes and then told him lots of lies and felt ashamed about that, but now they’re together and in love, and the poor little lonely god is once again alone.
6. L’oro di Manx.
This is a peculiar story, I read it in the introduction. Basically the Isle of Man decided on a treasure hunt to attract more tourists, and decided to hide the clues in a crime story, and Christie accepted to do it. This is it. Well, it’s hard to judge, becausealone like this it makes little sense, it is made just for the game. So, the sto: cousins Juan and Fenella receive a letter from their deceased uncle Myles: he found a treasure, and he wants his heirs to find it as well, not just give it to them. His only living relatives are Juan and Fenella, nephew (I think) Ewan and couin doctor Fayll. They must solve four or five riddles. The first is given to Juan and Fenella before the others. The second, Ewan stole them to cut the youngsters out, but then Fayll killed him and took them. They only have half a picture and a couple of words Ewan says before dying. Every clue, Juan and Fenella solve it and find it all. They also have the police overhear Fayll’s admission that he murdered Ewan, so he’s arrested. Now Juan and Fenella have lots of money and can get married.
7. Within a wall (Ita Entro il muro).
Isobel was poor but had everything else, beauty, charme, education, and she could have married anyone. Instead she married for love, to rising painter Alan. He has done some excellent things, while others (like Isobel’s portrait) are lifeless. His best things come to him after talking to Jane, because in a way she makes him angry and he wants to impress her. Jane is also Winnie’s godmother, Alan’s daughter. Since Alan doesn’t makeenough money, for years Isobel has asked Jane for money. Now Jane dies, Alan discovers everything, but Isobel is unrepentant, says Jane didn’t do it for her but for him, that Jane loved him but now that she’s dead, Isobel can have Alan all to herself. She says she never made a fuss that he spent time with a woman in love with him, instead she had her give her money, and Jane was not rich at all. Now Alan belongs to Isobel alone, and she’ll have him do whatever she wants, and do portraits that he hates because it’ll make money, and he’ll become her willing slave.
8. The mystery of the Baghdad Chest. (Ita Il mistero della cassapanca di Baghdad).
A story with Poirot. A good one, I liked it. A murder case seemed close, and Poirot wasn’t interested or involved until the widow asked or his help. Mr Clayton had a drink with his friend Curtiss, then went to tell Major Rich that he had to leave and couldn’ attend his party. That night, the party went on with Rich, Mrs Clayton, Mr and Mrs Spence and Curtiss. Next morning, Rich’s butler found Clayton’s dead body inside a chest, and Rich was arrested for his murder. Rumor has it that he loved Mrs Clayton, and now she told Poirot that she loved Rich but there has never been anything between them. Poirot asks everyone questions, and he learns that the Spences danced and played with each other all night. Rich danced with Mrs Clayton while Curtiss changed the music, but they all left together, nobody stayed behind. Poirot looks at the chest and sees a few holes in the back. This of course creates a totally different scenario. Hastings doesn’t get it, he never does, but it appears clear now that happened. Between Mr Clayton’s stuff, Poirot indeed finds tools that could be used to make those holes. Now he says that Clayton made them, of course. It was quite an ingenious plan: Curtiss had a drink with him, put suspicions inside his head regarding his wife and Rich, and suggests he hide in the house, in the chesst, to be in the room and spy what they do, to finally find out if they have an affair, if they’ll be alone. Curtiss puts something in his drink. Clayton goes to Rich’s house when he knows Rich is out and hides in the chest. Then the drug makes him sleep, so he doesn’t yell when Curtiss, tasked with managing the music, right next to the chest, stabs him. It was a perfect plan, Poirot admits. And it all happened because Curtiss hoped that without Clayton and Rich around, Mrs Clayton might get interested in him. She’s one of those beautiful, innocent creatures that Poirot calls dangerous, because men do crazy things for them. Well, not FOR the, but “to have them”, like things.
9. While the light lasts (Ita fintanto che dura la luce).
Very short. Deirdre married Tim for love, but the war killed him in 1914. They only had two months together. Even now, she wonders what their life would have been. But once alone, she married George Crozier who loved her and gave her everything. She was fond of him, not the passionate love she had for Tim, but she’s come to enjoy her peaceful and comfortable life with a rich husband who loves her. Now, out of the blue, she finds Tim again. He didn’t die, but it took him months to get well, and she had remarried. She seemed happy enough to him so he left her alone but now he wants her back. She hesitates to tell George and Tim asks her why, is she pregnant? It was such an easy excuse, she lied and said yes. Next day the man was dead, Tim shot himself. She’s shocked, of course, and will never forget him. It is not explained in clear, easy words but I’d say the reason is: she loved Tim, she missed him and had he gone back to her right away, even with a scar and no money, she would have loved him, done her best, but now it’s different because she’s had months to force herself to get over him, and she got used to her new life, this easy life where she has everything; it’s peaceful, comfortable, and she doesn’t want to leave it behind just like that… after all he didn’t even let her take some time to think on it all…
ITA La casa dei sogni
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