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The Call of Wings

by Agatha Christie

This week in the book club we will be reading 'The Call of Wings' by Agatha Christie. Millionaire Silas Hamer enjoys material happiness in his extreme wealth. Then one evening he comes across a legless piper whose tune transports him into a strange euphoric state, prompting him to question everything he stands for.

The short story explores the conflicts between the physical and the spiritual, and material wealth and moral goodness. Hamer experiences his disconcerting spiritual journey for the first time after having dinner with altruistic parson Dick Borrow and nerve specialist Bernard Seldon, with whom he shares his concerns over his new-found dream-like state.

The story was first published in the UK in 1933 as part of The Hound of Death collection of short stories, and in the US in the collection The Golden Ball and Other Stories.

Listen to the audiobook read by Christopher Lee available on YouTube:

The Call of Wings by Agatha Christie

You can also buy the book, in print and kindle forms: The Call of Wings by Agatha Christie

About the Author

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which was performed in the West End from 1952 to 2020, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928.

In 1946, Christie said of herself: "My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery."[69]

Christie's works of fiction contain some objectionable character stereotypes, but in real life, many of her biases were positive. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible".

How to join the club to chat

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