Captain Arthur Hastings' Modern Girlfriend

In Agatha Christie's novel The Murder on the Links, Captain Arthur Hastings takes a ferry across the English Channel, then rides on a train back to London. There he returns to the apartment he shares with Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective. Unlike most of his countrymen, Poirot opted to remain in England after the war. Over breakfast the next morning, Hastings and Poirot catch up, and Poirot reiterates how glad he is not to have traveled on the ship with Hastings. Even in the calmest weather, and even for an hour, Poirot finds the notion of a voyage aboard a ship unpalatable. 

In its own way, sea sickness can be as debilitating as a fear of air travel. 

After breakfast, Poirot goes through his morning mail. In it he finds a letter from France. When he opens it, he discovers it is an appeal for help from a Mr. Renauld. Even though the rich gentleman doesn't say exactly what he wants Poirot to investigate, he insists that he lives in fear of his life. Despite his dislike of sea voyages, the urgent tone of the letter convinces Poirot to travel to France and meet Mr. Renauld. And even though he's just returned from France on a business trip for the government, Hastings agrees to return, this time to help his friend with this mysterious investigation. 

When they reach Mr. Renauld's house in France, Poirot and Hastings discover that he was kidnapped. Mrs. Renauld was found in the house by a servant, bound and gagged. The police expected to receive a ransom demand from the kidnappers. Instead, the body of Mr. Renauld is discovered on the golf course adjoining his estate. It seems Mr. Renault was murdered, stabbed in the back.

I won't attempt to summarize Agatha Christie's novel for you. Nor do I wish to throw out any spoilers that might diminish your interest in the story. But as to the girl Hastings met in the first chapter, aboard the train headed toward Calais, he bumps into her the following day.

As on the train, he can't resist telling her he's investigating a murder. She declares that she's mad about murders, and sweet-talks him into showing her the scene of the crime. I like how Agatha Christie shows us how repulsive Hastings views this modern woman's interests and actions, tells himself how much he dislikes her, but can't resist acceding to her requests. Clearly she wields a power over him. For although he knows the French police will surely object, he gives her a tour of the crime scene anyway.

The TV adaptation changes a great many things about this girl Hastings meets. Agatha Christie's girl is a coarse dance hall entertainer. The girl in the TV version works as a refined, elegant singer in the hotel where Hastings and Poirot take lodgings. In the book, Higgins fights his constant attraction to her. On TV, she is instantly everything he's ever desired in a woman. In the book, his growing attraction to her is much more of a mystery in itself. On TV, it's the typical storybook romance we've seen a thousand times. In Christie's novel, Hastings doesn't even know her name until two-thirds of the way through the novel. Even then he only thinks he knows it, and Poirot must set him right as to her true identity many pages later. In TV, Hastings learns her name immediately, but tells the French police and Poirot that he doesn't. Of course, the French police may believe his story, but Hercule Poirot knows the woman's identity. For he saw how his friend Arthur Hastings gazed at her when she sang in the hotel lobby.

I found these two different versions of Arthur Hastings' romance with his modern girlfriend satisfying and enjoyable. Having watched Agatha Christie's Poirot on TV for over twenty years now, I am finding that exploring the stories as she wrote them, and comparing them to the TV versions, enhances my appreciation for both. Still, it is interesting how TV rips apart and reassembles what works in Christie's novels in order to translate her stories into a new medium. Don't you agree, mon ami?

Dragon Dave 

Arthur Hastings, a Beautiful Lady, and the Battle of the Somme

Agatha Christie's second Hercule Poirot novel, The Murder on the Links, starts with Captain Arthur Hastings riding on a train in France. In his carriage, his sole companion is a young lady who goes against all his classic ideas of what a woman should be. She swears, says the most outrageous things, and wears too much makeup. Yet, despite all this, he finds himself strangely attracted to her. 

As they talk, Hastings opens up to her, and tells her that the landscape they are traveling through reminds him of his experiences during World War I. Like many of his friends, he fought in the great war, and saw many people of his generation die. The scenery especially reminds him of the Battle of the Somme, which was waged between July and November 1916. After receiving serious injuries, he was invalided out of France. He was sent to a manor house that had been converted into an Army hospital, where he recovered from his wounds. Thereafter, he never returned to active service on the battlefield. Instead, during the remainder of WWI, he served the British Army in lesser capacities. 

The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. In all, roughly one million people were killed or wounded. Hastings, who recovered fully from his injuries, is one of the lucky ones. Despite his breezy, unaffected manner, it's easy to understand how deeply such an experience would scar him for life.

Recently, Hastings has been working for a British M.P. (or Member of Parliament), and on this occasion his duties took him to France. But he doesn't seem heavily involved in his government work. Aside from the occasional trip abroad,he may sit idle for days or weeks. So as he travels with the girl toward Calais, he tells her about his friend Hercule Poirot, the famous detective, and how he sometimes helps him investigate his cases. In particular, he references the poisoning of Mrs. Emily Ingelthorp at Styles Court, which Agatha Christie covered in the first Hercule Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. When the train reaches the station, Hastings reluctantly disembarks and parts company with her. 

As the train steams off to its next destination, this beautiful young woman seems to walk out of his life. Although he looks for her, he doesn't see her when he boards the ferry that will take him across the English Channel.

As I mentioned previously in my post, The Mysterious Battle of Ypres, in the TV version of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, we found Captain Arthur Hastings recovering from his injuries in a converted English manor house. Unlike today, he has no continuously broadcasting TV channels such as the BBC or CNN to watch. Nor can he read reports posted on a continuously throughout the day on his laptop or cell phone. The only source of news he gets comes via newspapers and newsreels. When we first see him, he sits in a darkened room, and the film projector shows him footage from the recent Third Battle of Ypres. This battle, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, was waged in Belgium, and the resultant destruction spurred a mass exodus of refugees to other countries. Shortly after that, at the invitation of his friend John Cavendish, he visits Styles Court. There, he meets up with Hercule Poirot, one of many Belgians who has fled the fighting to resettle, at least temporarily, in England.

The Third Battle of Ypres occurred between July and November of 1917, a year after the Battle of the Somme. I wonder why the TV adaptation of The Mysterious Affair at Styles was set later than Agatha Christie wrote the novel, in 1917. Why would the production team ignore Captain Hastings conversation with this young lady on the train in The Murder on the Links, which clearly dates the Styles affair in 1916? I understand why the people behind the series chose to set all the Poirot stories between WWI and WWII, as opposed to letting the later novels appear as Agatha Christie wrote them, such as the 1960s and 1970s. Still, given that decision, it seems odd to set productions of Agatha Christie's first two Poirot novels later than she did. 

Anyone else find this as strange as I do?

Related Poirot And Friends Posts
The Mysterious Battle of Ypres