Ordeal by Innocence
Encyclopedia
Ordeal by Innocence is a work of detective fiction
by Agatha Christie
and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club
on November 3 1958
and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company
the following year. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence
(12/6) and the US edition at $2.95. It is regarded by critics as one of the best of her later works, and was also one of Christie's two favorites of her own novels, the other being Crooked House
.
The novel is also noted for being one of Christie's darkest works, alongside such classics as Ten Little Indians
, with a strong focus on the psychology of innocence.
The witness, Arthur Calgary, believes that, when he clears the name of their son, the family would be grateful. He fails to realise the implications of his information. However, once he does so, he is determined to help and to protect the innocent by finding the murderer. To be able to do so, he visits the retired local doctor, Dr MacMaster, to ask him about the now-cleared murderer, Jacko Argyle. Dr MacMaster states that he was surprised when Jacko killed his mother. Not because he thought that murder was outside Jacko's 'moral range', but because he thought Jacko would be too cowardly to kill somebody himself; that, if he wanted to murder somebody, he would egg on an accomplice to do his dirty work. Dr MacMaster says "the kind of murder I'd have expected Jacko to do, if he did one, was the type where a couple of boys go out on a raid; then, when the police come after them, the Jackos say 'Biff him on the head, Bud. Let him have it. Shoot him down.' They're willing for murder, ready to incite to murder, but they've not got the nerve to do murder themselves with their own hands". This description seems to be a reference to the Craig and Bentley
case which had occurred in 1952.
Sarah Russell of The Guardian
gave a short review to the novel in the December 9, 1958 issue when she said, "In this solving of a two-year-old family murder sympathy is, unusually with Miss Christie, evoked for too many people to leave enough suspects; but the unravelling is sound and the story well told."
Maurice Richardson of The Observer
of November 2, 1958 said, "The veteran Norn has nodded over this one. There is ingenuity, of course, but it lacks a central focus. The characters are stodgy and there is little of that so readable, almost crunchable dialogue, like burnt sugar." He concluded, "The serious socio-psychological approach doesn't suit A.C. somehow. Only at the end with the big surprise do you feel home and dry."
Robert Barnard
: "One of the best of 'fifties Christies, and one of her own favourites (though she named different titles at different times). The Five Little Pigs
pattern of murder-in-the-past, the convicted murderer having died in prison, innocent. Short on detection, but fairly dense in social observation. Understanding in treatment of adopted children, but not altogether tactful on the colour question: 'Tina's always the dark horse…Perhaps it's the half of her that isn't white.'"
was made in 1985, starring Donald Sutherland
, Christopher Plummer
and Sarah Miles
. Its musical score (by Dave Brubeck
) has in many quarters been heavily criticised as totally inappropriate for this style of mystery and has given the film a certain notoriety.
television series Marple
featuring Geraldine McEwan
first broadcast in 2007. This version changed heavily from the novel. Gwenda Vaughan is the second victim in this adaptation, not Philip (however, she dies in the same way - stabbed at the bottom of the brain). Kirsten also remorsefully stabbs Tina in the novel in an attempt to silence her. There is also the addition of another adopted child Bobby who is the twin brother of Jacko (he commits suicide after financial ruin). Kirsten is arrested in the end, unlike the novel where she escapes. However, it is suggested that Kirsten will be picked up by the police later.
in Troy, New York
. The original run lasted from February 4 to February 17, 2007, and included 14 performances.
as a graphic novel
adaptation on July 1, 2008, adapted and illustrated by "Chandre" (ISBN 0-00-727531-5). This was translated from the edition first published in France by Emmanuel Proust éditions in 2006 under the title of Témoin indésirable.
In the UK the novel was first serialised in the weekly magazine John Bull
in two abridged instalments from September 20 (Volume 104, Number 2725) to September 27, 1958 (Volume 104, Number 2726) with illustrations by “Fancett”.
In the US, the first publication was in the Chicago Tribune
in thirty-six parts from Sunday, February 1 to Saturday, March 14, 1959 under the title of The Innocent.
An abridged version of the novel was also published in the February 21, 1959 issue of the Star Weekly Complete Novel, a Toronto newspaper supplement, with a cover illustration by Russell Maebus.
Note: The change from first German title to second German title occurred as a tie-in to the movie adaptation, which was released in German movie theatres als Feuerprobe der Unschuld.
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club
Collins Crime Club
The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins & Co Ltd and ran from May 6, 1930 to April 1994. Customers registered their name and address with the club and were sent a newsletter every three months which advised them of the latest books which had been or were to be...
on November 3 1958
1958 in literature
The year 1958 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*August 18 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in United States.*First volume of The Civil War by Shelby Foote is published....
and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company
Dodd, Mead and Company
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. Its history properly began in 1870, with the retirement of its founder, Moses Woodruff Dodd. Control passed to his son Frank...
the following year. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence
British sixpence coin
The sixpence, known colloquially as the tanner, or half-shilling, was a British pre-decimal coin, worth six pence, or 1/40th of a pound sterling....
(12/6) and the US edition at $2.95. It is regarded by critics as one of the best of her later works, and was also one of Christie's two favorites of her own novels, the other being Crooked House
Crooked House
Crooked House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on May 23 of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence .The action takes...
.
The novel is also noted for being one of Christie's darkest works, alongside such classics as Ten Little Indians
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial...
, with a strong focus on the psychology of innocence.
Plot summary
While serving a sentence for killing his foster mother – a crime he insisted he didn't commit – Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years later, the man who could have supported Jacko's alibi suddenly turns up; and the family must come to terms with the fact not only that one of them is the real murderer, but also that suspicion falls upon each of them. Christie's focus in this novel is upon the psychology of innocence, as the family members struggle with their suspicions of one another.The witness, Arthur Calgary, believes that, when he clears the name of their son, the family would be grateful. He fails to realise the implications of his information. However, once he does so, he is determined to help and to protect the innocent by finding the murderer. To be able to do so, he visits the retired local doctor, Dr MacMaster, to ask him about the now-cleared murderer, Jacko Argyle. Dr MacMaster states that he was surprised when Jacko killed his mother. Not because he thought that murder was outside Jacko's 'moral range', but because he thought Jacko would be too cowardly to kill somebody himself; that, if he wanted to murder somebody, he would egg on an accomplice to do his dirty work. Dr MacMaster says "the kind of murder I'd have expected Jacko to do, if he did one, was the type where a couple of boys go out on a raid; then, when the police come after them, the Jackos say 'Biff him on the head, Bud. Let him have it. Shoot him down.' They're willing for murder, ready to incite to murder, but they've not got the nerve to do murder themselves with their own hands". This description seems to be a reference to the Craig and Bentley
Derek Bentley
Derek William Bentley was a British teenager hanged for the murder of a police officer, committed in the course of a burglary attempt. The murder of the police officer was committed by a friend and accomplice of Bentley's, Christopher Craig, then aged 16. Bentley was convicted as a party to the...
case which had occurred in 1952.
Literary significance and reception
Philip John Stead concluded his review in the Times Literary Supplement of December 12, 1958, with, "The solution of Ordeal By Innocence is certainly not below the level of Mrs Christie's customary ingenuity, but the book lacks other qualities which her readers have come to expect. What has become of the blitheness, the invigorating good spirits with which the game of detection is played in so many of her stories? Ordeal By Innocence slips out of that cheerful arena into something much too like an attempt at psychological fiction. It is too much of a conversation piece and too many people are talking – people in whom it is hard to take the necessary amount of interest because there is not enough space to establish them. The kind of workmanship which has been lavished on this tale is not a kind in which the author excels and the reader feels that Miss Marple and Poirot would thoroughly disapprove of the whole business."Sarah Russell of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
gave a short review to the novel in the December 9, 1958 issue when she said, "In this solving of a two-year-old family murder sympathy is, unusually with Miss Christie, evoked for too many people to leave enough suspects; but the unravelling is sound and the story well told."
Maurice Richardson of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
of November 2, 1958 said, "The veteran Norn has nodded over this one. There is ingenuity, of course, but it lacks a central focus. The characters are stodgy and there is little of that so readable, almost crunchable dialogue, like burnt sugar." He concluded, "The serious socio-psychological approach doesn't suit A.C. somehow. Only at the end with the big surprise do you feel home and dry."
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard is an English crime writer, critic and lecturer.- Life and work :Born in Essex, Barnard was educated at the Colchester Royal Grammar School and at Balliol College in Oxford....
: "One of the best of 'fifties Christies, and one of her own favourites (though she named different titles at different times). The Five Little Pigs
Five Little Pigs
Five Little Pigs is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in May 1942 under the title of Murder in Retrospect and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1943 although some sources state that publication occurred in November 1942...
pattern of murder-in-the-past, the convicted murderer having died in prison, innocent. Short on detection, but fairly dense in social observation. Understanding in treatment of adopted children, but not altogether tactful on the colour question: 'Tina's always the dark horse…Perhaps it's the half of her that isn't white.'"
Ordeal by Innocence (1985 film)
A close film adaptationFilm adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
was made in 1985, starring Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
and Sarah Miles
Sarah Miles
-Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
. Its musical score (by Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
) has in many quarters been heavily criticised as totally inappropriate for this style of mystery and has given the film a certain notoriety.
Agatha Christie's Marple
The novel was adapted for the third season of the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
television series Marple
Marple (TV series)
Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...
featuring Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan is an English actor with a diverse history in theatre, film, and television. From 2004 to 2009 she appeared as Miss Marple, the Agatha Christie sleuth, for the series Marple.-Background:...
first broadcast in 2007. This version changed heavily from the novel. Gwenda Vaughan is the second victim in this adaptation, not Philip (however, she dies in the same way - stabbed at the bottom of the brain). Kirsten also remorsefully stabbs Tina in the novel in an attempt to silence her. There is also the addition of another adopted child Bobby who is the twin brother of Jacko (he commits suicide after financial ruin). Kirsten is arrested in the end, unlike the novel where she escapes. However, it is suggested that Kirsten will be picked up by the police later.
2007 stage adaptation
The novel was also adapted into a stage play by Mary Jane Hansen and performed for the first time by the New York State Theatre InstituteNew York State Theatre Institute
-History:In 1974, the New York State Legislature enacted legislation creating the Empire State Youth Theatre Institute . In 1982, through a collaboration with "the Egg" it became known as the Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts...
in Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
. The original run lasted from February 4 to February 17, 2007, and included 14 performances.
Graphic novel adaptation
Ordeal by Innocence was released by HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
as a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptation on July 1, 2008, adapted and illustrated by "Chandre" (ISBN 0-00-727531-5). This was translated from the edition first published in France by Emmanuel Proust éditions in 2006 under the title of Témoin indésirable.
Publication history
- 1958, Collins Crime Club (London), November 3, 1958, Hardcover, 256 pp
- 1959, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1959, Hardcover, 247 pp
- 1960, Pocket BooksPocket BooksPocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
(New York), Paperback, 211 pp - 1961, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
), Paperback, 192 pp - 1964, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 256 pp
In the UK the novel was first serialised in the weekly magazine John Bull
John Bull (magazine)
John Bull Magazine was a weekly periodical established in the City, London EC4, by Theodore Hook in 1820.-Publication dates:It was a popular periodical that continued in production through 1824 and at least until 1957...
in two abridged instalments from September 20 (Volume 104, Number 2725) to September 27, 1958 (Volume 104, Number 2726) with illustrations by “Fancett”.
In the US, the first publication was in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
in thirty-six parts from Sunday, February 1 to Saturday, March 14, 1959 under the title of The Innocent.
An abridged version of the novel was also published in the February 21, 1959 issue of the Star Weekly Complete Novel, a Toronto newspaper supplement, with a cover illustration by Russell Maebus.
International titles
- German: Tödlicher Irrtum (Fatal Error)
- German: Feuerprobe der Unschuld (Trial By Fire for Innocence)
Note: The change from first German title to second German title occurred as a tie-in to the movie adaptation, which was released in German movie theatres als Feuerprobe der Unschuld.
External links
- Ordeal by Innocence at the official Agatha Christie website
- Review of New York State Theatre Institute production