Endless Night (novel)

Endless Night is a crime novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 30 October 1967 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings (18/-) and the US edition at $4.95. It was one of her favourites of her own works and received some of the warmest critical notices of her career upon publication.
Etymology.
The title comes from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence":
Plot summary.
The story begins with Michael Rodgers, a young twenty-two year old, telling us about his time as a chauffeur and how he met the architect Rudolph Santonix. He plans to one day have a house built by Santonix. Michael is poor though, and so can't afford to hire Santonix to build the house he wants. Michael explains that he isn't content doing just one thing and so has held down many different jobs over the years. One day he wants to settle down in his dream house with his dream woman, but for now he can't imagine settling down.
Michael is walking along a village road near the Gipsy's Acre property one day when he falls in love with the grounds. He fantasizes about one day building a house there with the woman he loves. Curious to see what an auction is like, he goes to the auction for the acre. Several people are interested in buying it, but the bid doesn't go high enough and no one ends up getting the property rights. Michael suspects that this is because of the supposed curse over the property. 
While lurking on the grounds, he meets Fanelle (Ellie) Gutman by chance, a wealthy heiress who wants to escape from her world of snobby friends, begging relatives, and restrictive financial advisors. She introduces herself as Fanelle "Goodman," not wanting him to know her true identity as an heiress. They get along quite well and it seems like love at first sight. He shares his dream of owning the acre with her and she seems to reciprocate and encourage the idea. Ellie also mentions her lovely housemaid, Greta Anderson. Apparently, Greta has acted like a best friend to her for several years now and is described as very efficient. Michael appears incredibly jealous of their close relationship, despite never actually having met Greta before. 
Michael then sees Ellie on and off over the next few weeks before she has to travel abroad for her twenty-first birthday. While away from Ellie, Michael discovers that the property he wants has finally been bought. Michael also returns to his mother's house to ask her for money to marry Ellie. It's quite clear that he doesn't like his mother and she doesn't like him. The situation reads as though she simply disapproves of his spontaneous lifestyle, but Michael claims that his mother knows him all too well. He leaves without the money.
When Ellie returns, she reveals to Michael that she is in fact, one of the wealthiest women in America and that it is she who bought Gipsy's Acre. She wants to marry him and fulfill his dream on building a beautiful house there. She doesn't even mind leaving her home and family in America to move to England for him. Their marriage is a small event without much fanfare and they marry behind her family's back. Michael is poor and Ellie fears that her family would not approve of him. She is correct, and once they find out, they are highly disapproving of Michael. They even fire Greta for helping arrange the secret marriage. Regardless, Ellie refuses to leave Michael. 
Once married, they hire Santonix to build a mansion for them on the acre. After it's finished, Santonix remarks that this will probably be the last house he ever builds due to his failing health. On the night they move in, a rock is thrown through their window, telling them to leave the acre. Ellie is shaken by the incident, but not enough to want to move. Ellie entertains the idea of inviting Greta to live with them at the acre, feeling bad for getting her fired, but Michael doesn't like the idea. 
Michael and Ellie discover a small alcove near the cliffs on their property. They fix it up and build a small gazebo there, but they don't tell anyone about it, using it as a secret getaway area just for them. 
The newlywed couple spend the next few weeks meeting the villagers. Major Philpot stands out as a man wealthy in land but not money and he is seen as the "god" of the village; he becomes close with Michael. Claudia Hardcastle is another villager of note; she rides horses and becomes good friends with Ellie. They start riding horses together regularly. Ellie reveals that although she is naturally allergic to horses, she takes pills to calm her allergies before riding. She offers them to Claudia, who is also mildly allergic. Later it is revealed that Claudia is Santonix's half sister and used to be married to one of Ellie's lawyers. 
Meanwhile, an old gypsy woman, Mrs Lee, continues to warn them of a curse and instructs them to leave the acre. Ellie grows increasingly wary of her, so much so that Michael goes to the police station to inquire about Mrs. Lee. He learns from an officer there, that in the past, Mrs. Lee had been bribed with money to terrify other residents. Michael wonders if someone is doing that again. 
In the meantime, much to Ellie's chagrin, her American family refuses to leave her alone. Her step mother, Cora, has even moved across the ocean to be in the same country as her. Ellie's lawyers too, keep in constant contact with her. Some of them claim it's because she is fragile and needs to be protected since she has a bad heart. Her head lawyer, Mr. Lippincott, is especially concerned over her marriage to Michael.
When Ellie injures her ankle, she needs someone to help take care of her and she finally convinces Michael to let Greta stay with them. Ellie begins to worry about Michael and Greta, as they don't appear to like each other and even get into a very heated argument one night. 
Michael's mother comes to visit them on the acre, having never met Ellie before. She wants to see her daughter-in-law. Michael has made it clear that he doesn't want his mother to visit the acre or see Ellie, so they meet in private. Ellie only mentions this later in passing to Michael, but he becomes enraged that they met behind his back. She finds his anger curious.
One day, like normal, Ellie goes out horse riding in the morning. She goes alone because Claudia is going shopping with Greta at the outlets that day. Before she leaves, Mike invites Ellie to lunch later with him and Major Philpot. She accepts their invitation. Mike then goes into town with Major Philpot and attends an auction for various items. Being rich now, he's able to afford whatever he wants and outbids several others to buy a small gift for Ellie. After the auction, he thinks he sees two people resembling Claudia and one of Ellie's lawyers driving away in a car. He thinks it odd, since Claudia was supposed to be shopping at the outlets and the lawyer was supposed to be in America. 
While at lunch with Major Philpot, Mike begins to worry about the fact that Ellie has not yet joined them. She never shows up to lunch, and eventually they find out that it's because Ellie was thrown from her horse and died. Her dead body is found, having sustained no apparent injuries, and the local police determine that Ellie died of shock when she was thrown from her horse. Several witnesses come forward, claiming that they saw a woman in the woods the same time Ellie was riding her horse. Based on this, authorities believe it was Mrs. Lee who scared the horse on purpose and murdered Ellie by accident, not knowing she had a heart condition. 
At the inquest, it is revealed that a gold lighter was found in the alcove with the initial C on it. It could either belong to Claudia or Cora. The inquest is left incomplete though, due to the fact that Mrs. Lee does not show up in court. Mrs. Lee is deemed missing.
After the inquest, Michael travels to America to attend Ellie’s funeral with her family and collect the inheritance. While there he hears that Mrs. Lee has been found dead in a quarry, and Claudia Hardcastle has also died while out riding her horse. He wonders if it can be a coincidence. 
From Mr. Lippincott, he also officially learns that Claudia used to be married to another one of Ellie's lawyers (the one he thought he saw her with that day). Mr. Lippincott asks Michael if he ever knew Greta before meeting Ellie. Michael says no. Mr. Lippincott says that he has a letter for Michael, but that he'll send it in the mail so he gets it when he arrives back in England. 
Before returning to England, Mike goes to visit Santonix on his deathbed in California, having heard that his friend was dying. Right before Santonix dies, he screams, “You should have gone the other way!” Feeling disturbed by this, Mike returns to the UK on a sea voyage to give him time to reflect.
When he finally returns to his dream home, he opens the door to his dream woman: Greta Anderson. He reveals how he and Greta had met many years earlier in Germany. They had fallen in love and devised a plan to take Ellie’s money. Greta fixed it so Ellie would meet Michael at the acre that day. In reality, he already knew exactly who Ellie was. Mike and Greta pretended not to know each other and even hate each other so no one would suspect them. They plan to get married and share Ellie's wealth now that she's gone. The cover story being, both of them were so close to Ellie, no one else could understand the loss except each other. 
In reality, they killed Ellie with cyanide. They put it inside her allergy pills. Mike was the one who paid Mrs. Lee to frighten Ellie and raise suspicion of the heart shock theory and the possible curse. To eliminate Mrs. Lee as a witness, Michael and Greta pushed Mrs. Lee into a quarry. Claudia Hardcastle was unintentionally poisoned after finding and taking some of Ellie's pills in the alcove. She was the one who left the lighter by accident. It is also assumed that Santonix was suspicious of Michael’s true intentions. 
Michael and Greta celebrate what they've done, but when Michael opens the letter from Mr. Lippincott, he's horrified to find a picture of himself and Greta years ago in Germany. He starts to become paranoid that everyone knows that he's the murderer. He starts to lapse and sees Ellie everywhere he looks. Greta tries to assure him that it's nothing, but in a fit of psychotic rage, he strangles Greta. 
Shortly afterwards, the police and the local doctor arrive; their suspicions aroused by Claudia Hardcastle's death. They find him sitting with Greta's corpse, slowly losing his sanity. 
It's revealed that after Mike was arrested, he wanted to write down the entire story of how it happened: this is the book you've been reading all along. Mike then recounts all of the bad things he has done. As a child, he drowned his friend in a pond to steal his watch. As a young adult, he let another friend bleed out after a mugging just so he could steal all of the money on his person. He always hated his mother because he thought that she was suspicious of him. She was the only person (maybe other than Santonix) who could see through him. This is why he was angry that Ellie had met his mother; he was worried his mom might throw suspicion on him. 
He wonders if he could've ever actually been happy with Ellie and why he threw his chance with her away. He wonders if he ever did love her. The novel ends.
Characters.
The following details of the characters are based on the original novel. Backstories, backgrounds, and names vary with differing international adaptations, based on censorship, cultural norms, etc.
Literary significance and reception.
The novel was published in 1967. Christie later said she normally wrote her books in three to four months but wrote "Endless Night" in six weeks. The novel – which recycles plots and characters Christie had used in "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" and "Death on the Nile" – is dedicated "To Nora Prichard from whom I first heard the legend of Gipsy's Acre." Nora Prichard was the paternal grandmother of Mathew, Christie's only grandson. Gipsy's Acre was a field located on a Welsh moorland. "The Times Literary Supplement" of 16 November 1967 said, "It really is bold of Agatha Christie to write in the "persona" of a working-class boy who marries a poor little rich girl, but in a pleasantly gothic story of gypsy warnings she brings it all off, together with a nicely melodramatic final twist."
"The Guardian" carried a laudatory review in its issue of 10 November 1967 by Francis Iles (Anthony Berkeley Cox) who said, "The old maestrina of the crime-novel (or whatever is the female of 'maestro') pulls yet another out of her inexhaustible bag with "Endless Night", quite different in tone from her usual work. It is impossible to say much about the story without giving away vital secrets: sufficient to warn the reader that if he should think this is a romance he couldn't be more mistaken, and the crashing, not to say horrific suspense at the end is perhaps the most devastating that this surpriseful author has ever brought off."
Maurice Richardson in "The Observer" of 5 November 1967 began, "She changes her style again and makes a determined and quite suspenseful attempt to be with it." He finished, "I shan't give away who murders whom, but the suspense is kept up all the way and Miss Christie's new demi-tough, streamlined style really does come off. She'll be wearing black leather pants next, if she isn't already." The poet and novelist Stevie Smith chose the novel as one of her "Books of the Year" in the same newspaper's issue of 10 December 1967 when she said, "I mostly read Agatha Christie this year (and every year). I wish I could write more about what she does for one in the way of lifting the weight, and so on."
Robert Barnard: "The best of the late Christies, the plot a combination of patterns used in "Ackroyd" and "Nile" (note similarities in treatment of heiress/heroine's American lawyers in "Nile" and here, suggesting she had been rereading). The murder occurs very late, and thus the central section seems desultory, even novelettish (poor little rich girl, gypsy's curse, etc.). But all is justified by the conclusion. A splendid late flowering."
Adaptations.
"The Case of the Caretaker".
A short story collection by Agatha Christie, titled "Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories", published in October 1979, features a short story called "The Case of the Caretaker" whose overall plot is the same as "Endless Night", although the character names are different.
"‘The Case of the Caretaker’ was first published in Strand Magazine, January 1942, and then in the USA in Chicago Sunday Tribune, 5 July 1942." from "Miss Marple – Miss Marple and Mystery: The Complete Short Stories (Miss Marple)" by Agatha Christie
"Endless Night" (1972 film).
In 1972, Sidney Gilliat directed a film adaption starring Hayley Mills, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson, Hywel Bennett and George Sanders (who committed suicide before the film's release). The film received mixed reviews, and following an unsuccessful run in the United Kingdom, was not released theatrically in the United States.
Christie was initially pleased by Gilliat's involvement and the casting. However, she was disappointed in the finished product, calling it "lacklustre." She also voiced her reservations about the film featuring a brief nude scene with Ekland at the end.
Saturday Theatre (BBC Radio 4).
"Endless Night" was presented as a one-hour radio play in the "Saturday Theatre" strand on BBC Radio 4 on 30 August 2008 at 2:30pm. The play's recording took place at Broadcasting House and had an original score composed by Nicolai Abrahamsen.
Adaptor: Joy Wilkinson
Producer/Director: Sam Hoyle
Cast:
"Jonathan Forbes" as Mike
"Lizzy Watts" as Ellie
"Sara Stewart" as Greta
"Joan Walker" as Cora/Mike's Mother
"Victoria Lennox" as Mrs Lee
"Chris Pavlo" as Mr Constantine/Auctioneer/Policeman/Assistant
"John Rowe" as Philpott/Lippincott
"Joseph Tremain" as Young Mike/Army Boy
"Dan Starkey" as Santonix/Frank
"Thomas Brown-Lowe" as Oscar
Graphic novel adaptation.
"Endless Night" was released by HarperCollins as a graphic novel adaptation on 3 November 2008, adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq ().
"Agatha Christie's Marple" adaptation.
Although the book did not feature Miss Marple, it is part of the sixth series of "Agatha Christie's Marple", starring Julia McKenzie. It aired first on Argentina's Film&Arts on Wednesday 20 November, Australia's ABC on Sunday 22 December 2013, and aired on ITV on Sunday 29 December 2013. This adaptation by Kevin Elyot remains fairly faithful to the book, although, in addition to adding Miss Marple, it identifies the boyhood friend murdered for his wristwatch by Rogers with the architect's brother, who does not appear in the original novel. The architect (named Robbie Hayman in this TV adaption) ends up burning down the house he has designed for Rogers after discovering his brother's watch in Rogers' desk drawer.
French adaptation.
A French adaptation as part of the television series "Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie" is planned for 2021.
Publication history.
In the US, the novel was first serialised in two parts in "The Saturday Evening Post" from 24 February (Volume 241, Number 4) to 9 March 1968 (Volume 241, Number 5) with illustrations by Tom Adams.