Fred's Book Club: Divine Mysteries.

Welcome to Wednesday, which means another episode of our book feature called the Humpback Writers, named for Hump Day. No backs are involved. Well, we don't think so, anyhow.

Usually when we have a book by a well-known author, we like to do two things: 1) Use the editorial We and 2) profile a book that is representative of the author's oeuvre. Well, thing 2 is thrown out the window, because today we have Christmas stories by the world's foremost writer of mystery stories, Agatha Christie. Or, as she styled herself for some non-mystery writing, Agatha Christie Mallowan, using the name of her second husband.

Star Over Bethlehem, originally published in 1965, is a collection of six stories and five poems about Christmas. It's quite short; my edition runs 84 pages with not a lot of text on each page. But it is such a departure from what we expect from Dame Agatha that I wager all but the most committed fans of hers would be surprised at what lies within. 

All of the stories are good, of course, and some are very moving. I hate to give anything away -- and there are some actual mysteries in this book, including the origin of the titular star in the title story (Jupiter and Saturn? Ha!), that can surprise. One of my favorites here is "The Naughty Donkey," a fable that indeed concerns a very stubborn, very disobedient beast:

Once upon a time there was a very naughty donkey. He liked being naughty. When anything was put on his back he kicked it off, and he ran after people trying to bite them. 

Several owners try to break the donkey of his naughtiness, and each gives up and sells him at a loss to someone else. All that is in the first paragraph. The donkey runs off and sneaks into a caravan just to eat, and annoys the other animals. Then some well-known personages come by.

"V.I.P.s," hissed the camel.

"What's that?" asked the donkey.

"Very Important People," said the camel, "bringing gifts."

The donkey follows them to a manger, hoping to taste the gifts, but they are useless to him and he is disgruntled. Then the baby in the manger takes hold of the donkey's ear, "clutching it tight as very young babies will." And everything changes for the donkey. In lesser hands it would be a maudlin affair, but Christie makes it a great story suitable for young and old. 

More adult stories include a convocation of fourteen saints, concerned about the world, petitioning God to go back and try to lead humanity on the road to heaven. (Being C of E, Christie can't resist a dig at my Catholic church, having St. Peter say, "I'm not so sure about that church I founded... It's not turned out at all as we meant..." But I forgive her.) The best story is probably "The Island," a story of Mary living with John, many years after her Son commissioned John to take her as his own. 

I enjoyed this book very much, but it certainly put me in mind of a famous Hitchcock quote: “I'm a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.” Christie was the same way, but while there are mysteries here, and very human stories, there are no bodies with knives sticking out of them. 

In the year and a half I've been doing this feature, I have yet to repeat an author. I may have to do that soon. Christie's mysteries always demand attention, and to be fair to her I think I ought to trot one out for the Humpback Writers. We'll see what 2021 brings.